Altura

Altura is an Italian fine-dining restaurant in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. It comes from Chef Nathan Lockwood who has worked in San Francisco’s Acquerello, which eventually earned a Michelin Star. He ended up coming to Seattle to lead and head this restaurant. Having done a lot of research on Seattle fine dining scene, I ended up on this restaurant to give it a try. Reviews mentioned that it was consistently good and nearly up there with some of the better U.S. fine dining restaurants. I made a reservation a few weeks ahead for 2 at the counter for 6:00 PM on a Thursday evening without much issues.

Ambiance & Service

The ambiance was very much a very modern, New American gastro-style environment. The music being played was recognizable rock music.

The service was good, as they kept our waters filled and served all the dishes with the rest of the restaurant. What was interesting was that they only had 1 reservation time for the entire restaurant, so naturally to serve 30+ some diners meant it’s easy to run into things running behind. With some courses, we had to wait just a little longer, but you can hear the chefs call that they were behind and they tried to speed things up.

Because we paid on Tock beforehand, we were able to leave without needing to pay for anything else.

Food

The Wine Pairing was $189, which features a mix of classic Italian wines and innovative natural wines alongside other selections.

The Non-Alcoholic Pairing was $95, and it came with herbal infusions and juices.

The Tasting Menu Price was $175 per person.

The Stuzzichini courses (i.e., small Italian snacks) started off with a Cucumber and Shishito Pepper Soda. This was exactly as it sounded, which was refreshing with a peppery finish.

The alcoholic pairing was the Pehu Simonet ‘Face Nord’ Extra Brut Grand Cru from Champagne, France, Non-Vintage. This was a sparkling wine that cut through the cold appetizers well.

The non-alcoholic pairing was a Red Shiso with sencha asanoka and osmanthus. The sencha asanoka was a fragrant, gentle sweet tea. Osmanthus was a floral and fruity fragrant flower. Combined with the shiso, this was incredibly delectable.

It continued with Imperial Kaluga Caviar, Fermented Potato Puree, and Fennel Pollen. This basically tasted like mashed buttery potatoes with caviar on top.

The remaining Stuzzichini, included (left to right):

• Albacore Crudo, Mustard Green Sponge Cake, and Tonnato - this was a little strange in that it was a cake texture with some crudo on top.
• Magnolia Farms Wagyu Beef Crudo, Olive Oil Baba, and Bottarga - this tasted pretty good.
• Savory Cannoli, Hokkaido Sea Urchin, and Parsley Root - the sea urchin flavor was subtle but notable if you pay attention. It was interesting to try this in a savory cannoli crust.
• Charcoal Grilled Octopus, Pickled and Roasted Cherries, and Salsa Rossa - the grilled octopus was charred good, but the texture was a bit rubbery and crunchy. I’m not sure if it’s because the legs were not fully cooked all the way, or if this is how it’s intended to have this texture profile.

The alcoholic pairing was the Grape Ink ‘Natura Nuda’ chardonnay from Williamette Valley, Oregon 2021. This white wine was considered organic and biodynamic. It has some very interesting nasal notes. I smelled toasted sesame from the glass, and it tasted nutty and flavorful. It was very delicious, and it caused us to remember this vineyard for future reference.

The non-alcoholic pairing was Cucumber with toasted sesame and rice vinegar. This was similar to the first course sans pepper aftertaste.

The Live Atlantic Scallop course included 2 things (left to right):

• Sformato, Tea Cured Salmon Roe, Smoked with Madrona. The sformato was basically pureed vegetables with eggs. It was good. When they served this, the lid was closed, and once we opened the lid, the smoke aerated out from it.
• Crudo, Chili, Plum, Finger Lime. These flavors are all very common in the NYC scene, and the scallop tasted fresh and sweet.

The alcoholic pairing was the Dila-O ‘Dry Red Wine’ Saperavi from Kakheti, Georgia 2023. This young Georgian red wine was pretty decent. It was dark with aromas of plum and subtle pepper and earthiness. I was sipping this, and all of a sudden, I realized it was gone. The sommelier came and poured another few ounces, and the same thing happened.

The non-alcoholic pairing was Roasted Barley with kuromitsu (Japanese sugar syrup) and tonic. The kuromitsu was also similar to sassafras (which you find in root beer), and there was something about this that was not very good. If you like the flavor of molasses mixed with water, then maybe you might like this. I think they should’ve mixed it with soda instead of tonic.

The House Made Sourdough Bread came with cultured butter. As expected, the bread and butter was very good. The crust was very crispy, and the inner bread meat was very soft and sour.

The Magnolia Wagyu Brisket Tortellini course came with bone marrow roasted beets, parmesan, and lingonberry agrodolce (traditional Italian sweet and sour sauce). This tortellini was cooked beautifully al-dente, and the flavors of the sauce was subtly sweet. As expected, the flavors reminded me of a braised stew type dish.

The alcoholic pairing was Domaine Leflaive ‘Macon-Verze’ chardonnay from Bourgogne, France 2022. This chardonnay was a very classic tasting one, where it tasted buttery with green apple and citrus fruit notes. I thought this was more acidic, bright, and creamy, and it was not very compatible with the scallop dish.

The non-alcoholic pairing was Saffron with verjus blanc and orange blossom water. The saffron was very prominent, and the orange blossom water gave it a very interesting rounding on the flavor.

The Scallop and Prawn Raviolo course came with roasted corn, zucchini, and lavender brown butter. This was very delectable and absolutely phenomenal. Before this course, the head chef manually rolled and kneed the dough for this. He created the raviolo in front, so you knew it was fresh. The scallop and prawn mixture in the middle was plump, juicy, and very flavorful. With the brown butter, it was just a perfect, exemplary dish.

The sommelier brought this out due to a mistiming of the wine for the previous course. The alcoholic pairing for the next course was Ximenez-Spinola ‘Delicado, Vino de uva Soleada’, which came from Pedro Ximenez, Jerez, Spain 2023. This was a sweet wine that has a luscious amount of apricot and peach smells. The wine itself had some subtle flavors of nuttiness, stone fruits, and some wood.

The Apricot Sorbetto was a palette cleanser that came with tarragon granita. The tarragon was very prominent, and it wasn’t great with the apricot. You get a lot of confusing flavors, so I guess it achieved the success of cleansing your palette since it’s probably a little confused by this.

The alcoholic pairing for the duck was the Buglioni Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, which came from Veneto, Italy 2019. This was a very flavored red wine, with scenes of cherry and pepper. It was made with 60% corvina, 20% corvinone, 10% rondinella, 5% croatina, and 5% oseleta.

The non-alcoholic pairing was Verjus Rouge, which came with hojicha and demerara (type of light brown cane sugar). This was absolutely delicious for a non-alcoholic drink. The hojicha (roasted green tea) blended well with this type of sugar.

The first choice main course, Makah Halibut, came with a crispy potato crust, summer vegetables, and salsa verde. The halibut was cooked perfectly, and it all tasted really good.

The other choice main course, Spring Rains Farms Dry Aged Duck Breast, came with summer vegetables and spicy pickled cherries. The duck breast was decent. I think the skin could have been crispier, and the duck breast seemed to be missing something. It was tender, but I’ve definitely had better.

The final alcoholic pairing for the dessert was the Caruso & Minini ‘Tagos’ Grillo came from Sicilia, Italy 2021. This white sweet wine has strong aromas of pineapple and apricot. It had a very sweet flavor finish.

The final non-alcoholic pairing for the dessert was the Tea Service, which was a hot almond type tea. The tea reminded me of Chinese almond tofu flavors, and there was some residues that was clean for finish.

The Vanilla Semifreddo dessert course came with stone fruit, melons, toasted almond, and nepitella mint. This was a very refreshing dessert. The toasted white things reminded me a bit of meringue.

The final Affogato dessert came with three things (left to right):

• cannoli, roasted cherry, sicilian pistachio - this was good and tasted exactly what the ingredients spelled out.
• grappa cherry filled with marzipan and wrapped in dark chocolate - the marzipan was very prominent.
• fennel gelato, cherry grappa, and aerated valrhona hot chocolate - this reminded me of a hot chocolate mixed with some type of cold flavors.

Overall Impression

Altura, if Michelin came to Seattle, should be capable of garnering a single star. The food was surprisingly pretty good with very fresh and flavorful ingredients. The portion sizing was slightly on the more abundant side, so if you’re a bigger gourmand eater, this would be a pretty good deal.

The wine pairing was decent by itself, but it did not pair with the food as well as other restaurants in major cities like NYC. The one great thing about the wine pairing in my opinion was that it helped give some ideas of some good wineries to familiarize with. On the flip side, the non-alcoholic pairing was very generous. Although there were some misses, the majority were hits, and they gave a good amount of it too.

If you want a night out with a gustation menu, Altura is a great choice. I would say it’s up there with some of the Michelin starred restaurants in NYC when it comes to food. For pairings and if money was no object, the wine pairing was acceptable, and the non-alcoholic was more memorable.

Yelp Jabs

Lots of flower based tea that you cant have anywhere else. Wine pairing was great.

New York City restaurants have a lot of floral non-alcoholic drinks. The wine pairing was not the best I’ve had, but I found some good wine makers to remember for the future.

Super over priced, expensive addons for wine or non alcoholic pairings. In the end this place had some amazing food but hands down was a ripoff. Seriously I should have stuck to my gut feeling to buy a bottle instead of being bullied into a wine pairing with mostly shitty wines and no refills on the meager pours.

This Yelper was likely not the audience for this restaurant. They would be even more disappointed if they tried other fine dining restaurants in the other major cities. At no instance did I ever feel we were bullied to buying more. I can understand though that when someone offers add-ons, you may feel pressure to say, “Yes”, but that’s entirely your own fault.

Revisions

1. Jul 31, 2025 - Initial revision.