Clancy's Bistro: New Italian spot opens in Kirkland

When Chef Tim Clancy turned Kirkland's Foghorn Restaurant into an Italian bistro last May, it was both the realization of a long-held goal and a homecoming of sorts.

Clancy grew up in Kirkland, where he and his wife still live. Professionally, he cut his (veal) chops at Il Terrazzo Carmine in Seattle, where he was among the opening staff at Carmine Smeraldo's highly regarded Pioneer Square ristorante. He cooked there for more than 15 of the last 20 years, heading the kitchen for the past five.

But Clancy hungered for a place of his own and there was The Foghorn, a long-standing neighborhood hangout catering to the Caesar, steak and seafood crowd, practically in his back yard. With its enviable lakeside setting, including a private dock, and what Clancy calls "a very nice lease," it proved irresistible.

He sealed the deal in early May, closed for four days of cleaning, and reopened with fresh flowers and white linens on the tables, veal scaloppini on the menu and most of The Foghorn's former staff still in place. Just last month he hoisted a banner out front covering the old Foghorn logo and trumpeting the new Clancy's Bistro.

Recent visits suggest the change is something less than a transformation, still a work in progress. Servers are a little unsure of themselves and the kitchen performs competently, if not brilliantly.

Simplicity is the path to surest pleasure on the menu. Wild king salmon fillet seasoned with olive oil and herbs is precisely grilled to medium rare. Cornish game hen achieves a moist and golden finish in the oven, garnished with pine nuts, capers and golden raisins that provide sweet and salty counterpoint to the petite bird.

Mediterranean sea bass ($26.95), a frequent special, is roasted whole under sprigs of fresh herbs; presented on a silver platter, it's flambéed and filleted tableside. All this fuss, performed with painstaking care though little finesse, yields delicious mouthfuls of delicate white fish enhanced with a spoonful of herbed olive oil.

The portly veal chop ($36.95), another regular on the fresh sheet, is lavishly adorned with chanterelles, its demi-glace just a touch too inebriated with wine.

Simplicity is less of a virtue when it comes to sides, which on every visit with every entree were the same: sautéed green and yellow beans with baby carrots and horseradish whipped potatoes.

Pastas ($11.95-$15.95) offer a less expensive entree option. Daily specials broaden the basic offerings that include rigatoni with Bolognese, linguini with Dungeness crab and seafood cannelloni, the latter a bit over-baked but satisfyingly stuffed with crab, bay shrimp, scallops and spinach, and finished with béchamel.

You may begin your meal with oysters, crab cakes or shrimp cocktail, beef carpaccio or bruschetta. Grilled jumbo prawns, whose earthy companion is a zesty chickpea and tomato purée, are worth a try, as is calamari sautéed with olive oil, lemon, garlic and red pepper; a nice departure from the usual fried version.

Several fine salads and two soups round out the appetizer options. The creamy pink chowder delivers the flavor of salmon though not much fish can be discerned among the chunks of potato.

At meal's end, the silver platter returns laden with desserts from cobbler to custard to poached pears with mascarpone, and, yes, tiramisu, as frothy and rich as a frozen Frappuccino. For those less inclined toward subtlety in a dessert, the mud pie's for you.

Guests at Clancy's stroll in from nearby condos, pull up to the door in Lincolns and Porsches, or up to the dock in Bayliners and Sea Rays. Manager and maitre d' Egidio Costanza (another Il Terrazzo alum) meets and greets them in a pinstriped suit and charming Italian accent, though his professional demeanor hasn't yet trickled down to all of the waitstaff. (Tsk, tsk to the server grooming face and hair in the mirrored bar during service.)

The view across the lake is unabashedly enchanting and the steep pitch of the tiered dining room allows guests to drink it in right along with their dry martinis. Linens and flowers notwithstanding, an easy boathouse ambience prevails. Booths, a fireplace and a low-slung bar contribute further cozy accents.

It seems Clancy is moving cautiously, getting to know his customers and what they want. In a phone interview he called the current menu "more of a training menu" and expects to expand it and the wine list later this month. He also has plans for sprucing up the 33-year-old building (like getting a much-needed new carpet) and will continue "whipping the staff into shape."

Clancy's Bistro has potential. In time it may provide a dining experience to rival its location.

Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com

Sample menu

Grilled Jumbo Prawns $11.95

Clancy's Country Salad $5.95

Seafood Cannelloni $15.95

Roasted Cornish Hen $18.95

Wild King Salmon $24.95