If you live in Seattle, chances are you’ve been hearing a whisper on the wind this year: Atoma. Suddenly it seems like you can’t escape that word, whether it’s your foodie friends gushing about the meal they just had or your mom calling from the other side of the country to say she just saw it mentioned in The New York Times.
Atoma is a contemporary New American restaurant that opened at the tail end of 2023. It’s tucked into a cozy old Craftsman house in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. Chef Johnny Courtney (who co-owns Atoma with his wife, Sarah Courtney) most recently spent several years at Canlis, which is perhaps Seattle’s most iconic fine dining institution. He also spent time cooking in Mexico, Australia, and Denver. Thus Atoma’s menu features global influences along with a rustic Pacific Northwest sensibility and seasonal, local ingredients.
Here’s some of the accolades that Atoma has received since opening:
Esquire included Atoma in their list of the best new American restaurants of 2024, saying they were both “charmed” by the location and “excited” about the menu.
Eater also included Atoma in their list of the best new restaurants in America this year, praising its “more open, less rigid, and less nationalist template for American cooking.”
The New York Times added Atoma to their list of the 25 best Seattle restaurants. They were impressed by the restaurant’s personality: “The charming dining room occupies the first floor of a Craftsman house, and the food echoes the rustic-refined ambience.”
Seattle Met named Atoma their restaurant of the year, citing the winning combination of “fine dining ambitions and the heart of a small, bootstrapped place.”
In their review, Seattle Met echoed the sentiment that The New York Times expressed about the restaurant’s atmosphere: “Atoma’s food is impressive. The high-end feel it accomplishes in an old house (on a limited budget, in this difficult climate), perhaps even more so.” The consensus is that if you visit Atoma you can expect the ambitious culinary creations and service of fine dining combined with the warmth of a family-owned eatery.
Once you’ve secured your reservation, here’s the rundown on what to order!
There is no tasting menu, mainly due to their small kitchen size. Still, you can try a lot of the menu: expect each order to be just enough for an individual serving. Seattle Met described Atoma’s offerings as “robust finger food.” Highlights include the lion’s mane mushroom katsu and the radish cake. If you see anything with the words “tartare” or “Dungeness crab” on the menu, be sure to order it.
Whatever you do, be sure not to skip the rosette cookie: a savory fried flower stuffed with cheese and onion jam. The seasonal menu changes but the crowd-pleasing rosette cookie stays.
For dessert, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the Atoma take on a Baked Alaska.
Finally, even the bread service is worth the stomach space: instead of basic rolls, Atoma offers sourdough crumpets with kefir butter and fermented garlic honey.
Make sure to try their cocktails as well! Bar director Dillon Raaz created a fun drink menu that includes witty cocktail names and miniature two-ounce cocktails. And if you venture to the bar in back, you’ll find just four seats and homemade Cheez-Its to snack on.
Ready to dine? Atoma accepts walk-ins when space is available but your best bet is to make a reservation. They have an all-ages dining room and a 21+ lounge, as well as a seasonal patio. For parking, you should be able to find free street parking within walking distance of the restaurant. For updates, follow the restaurant’s Instagram. Enjoy!
Atoma
Address: 1411 N. 45th Street
Hours: 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Tues-Thurs; 4:30 to 10:00 p.m. Fri-Sat