14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Pickled Fish dinner series highlights regional ingredients, chef’s skills
Review and photos by
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
“The purpose of these dinners,”
said Shelby Dodson, Pickled Fish’s
baker and wife of executive chef
Brad, “is to highlight purveyors in
the area who are doing wonderful
things.”
She was introducing the Pacifi c
Northwest Partner Dinner Series,
which presents prix fi xe, reserva-
tion-only dinner menus revolving
around pairs of regional purveyors.
The series started in November and
continues through March on the
fi rst Friday and Saturday of each
month. (December’s engagement
features Elk Cove Winery and
Starvation Alley Cranberry Farm.
January’s incorporates Drink Ok
Wines and Beautiful Pig Char-
cuterie. For further dates, partners
and reservations see: pickledfi sh-
restaurant.com.)
Beyond shouting out great
purveyors, the PNW Partner
Series has a second reason for
being — introducing the Dodsons
to the North Coast. Prior to taking
the reins at Pickled Fish some
two-and-a-half months ago, they
helmed the well-regarded Wheat +
Barley in Echo, Oregon. As such,
the Partner Series is an event with
which to say: Hi, we’re here and
we’re doing cool stuff with great
local bounty!
November’s Partner Series
dinner was served in the rear dining
room, separate from a bustling bar.
(That regular dinner service contin-
ued concurrently made the event’s
execution that much more ambi-
tious.) I’ll refrain from diving into
Pickled Fish’s ambiance, suffi ce it
to say: I reveled in it — the tactile,
industrial-chic design, the expan-
sive fourth fl oor views and stylish
modernity that, while perhaps rote
in Portland, is rare and welcome on
the North Coast.
November’s partners were
Pink Poppy Farm and North Jetty
Brewing. Each of the evening’s
four courses included ingredients
“
The fi rst course featured a porter-braised shallot, purees of matsutake mush-
rooms and celery, a bacon vinaigrette, micro-greens and herbs topped with
a poached egg.
from Pink Poppy and, for $12 more,
eight-ounce beer pairings from
North Jetty. (The base price of the
dinner, sans drinks, was $55.)
The fi rst course was the only
one featuring North Jetty’s beer on
the plate as well as the glass. The
porter-braised shallot was divine,
with a caramelized skin that gave
way to a melting, supple core. It
was joined by purees of matsutake
mushrooms and celery, a bacon
vinaigrette, micro-greens and herbs
from Pink Poppy, and crowned
with a poached egg, which shivered
and upon puncture fl owed smooth
silky protein. Each bite riffed on
deep central fl avors of the earthy
mushroom puree and blunted bacon
vinaigrette. The depth was creeping.
It made me present, contemplative,
full of wonder. The beer — a malt-y
Scottish red — made sense, its bit-
terness an interlocking counterpoint
in similar tones.
Between courses, Shelby Dod-
son said a few words. So too did
North Jetty’s brewmaster, who’d
had the meal the night before. (A
representative from Pink Poppy was
unable to attend that evening.) The
brewmaster said he’d spent signif-
icant time collaborating with the
The third course included a pork chop topped with mint and micro-greens,
braised broccoli rabe, preserved peaches and pickled mustard seeds.
tastebuds. Sips of the ale couldn’t
chef on fi nding the beers to properly fi x it. Neither could water. It
complement each dish.
overwhelmed, like getting washed
For the second course, North
in the surf. Still, I appreciated the
Jetty came with a Fresh Hop Pale
presentation and creativity — a few
Ale. The hops for this limited edi-
tweaks and the dish could be saved.
tion ale were picked in September
The third course fl ipped the
during the harvest and put almost
script, the opposite of abstract-art
straight into the beer. The freshness presentation and dainty portions.
— particularly, the pine-y-ness —
Huge and hearty was the main
unfurled like the golden ratio. It
event, something like grandma
was chosen, the brewmaster said, in would make in the farmhouse.
hopes of counteracting the saltiness There was a huge pork chop,
of the second dish. Unfortunately, it cooked tenderly, topped with mint
was a fool’s errand. No beer — and and micro-greens, a pile of braised
perhaps no liquid,
broccoli rabe and
short of milk —
some of Pink
PICKLED FISH
could soothe the
Poppy’s pre-
salt-bomb.
served peaches.
PNW PARTNER
It was a lovely
Pickled mustard
DINNER SERIES
plate, though —
seeds swirled
a half-moon of
around the plate,
409 Sid Snyder Drive,
green herbs and
playing well with
Long Beach, Washington
pickles (from
everything —
PHONE: 360-642-2344
Pink Poppy), a
even the peaches.
pickledfi shrestaurant.com
yellow fl ower,
While the herbs
bronzed chips
were damn-near
and white, mar-
as fresh as being
ble-sized puffs of salt-cured petrale just plucked from the soil, and the
sole and crème fraîche. The concept pork and braised broccoli rabe a
of a fi sh-based, creamy mousse
thoughtful marriage, the peaches
struck me as sound, but paired with were absolutely exquisite. Oozing
salty, home-made chips and baby
with brandy, their caramelized,
pickles just short-circuited my
boozy but not overwhelming
sweetness was akin to a dessert and
digestif all in one.
By this time I was fully sati-
ated — not bursting, but hardly
wanting. But when the bowl of
butternut squash ice cream, fennel
fl avored herbs (from Pink Poppy),
marble-sized pecks of pumpernick-
el cake and candied chanterelles
was placed before me, I spooned
up every last morsel. Playing well
with North Jetty’s coffee-tinged
Semper Paratus Porter, the cake and
ice cream — which I believe may
have included a few drips of salted
caramel — were enticingly spiced.
The candied chanterelles afforded
a depth and earthiness that had me
remembering the fi rst course. That I
might even consider a conversation-
al callback in coursing suggests that
the Pickled Fish’s new guard is on
to something special.
While sheepish in front of the
crowd, executive chef Brad Dodson
appeared at the end of the two-hour
meal. He mostly defl ected, shining
the light back to his purveyors.
“They’re going against the status
quo and helping the community,”
Dodson said. “They’re the reason I
came here.”
With him, Dodson brought the
ingenuity and technique to match.