12 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Astoria Stock Co. puts focus on meat
Review and photos by
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
S
Sous vide is among the most
elegant and precise ways to cook
a steak. The technique includes
sealing meat in a plastic bag,
submerging the bag in water and
circulating the water through a
heating element at relatively low
temperatures. The slow-cooked
results are remarkably even, al-
most impossibly tender. However,
to bother with such a process with
anything less than a marvelous
hunk meat would be folly.
Enter Phil Spencer and
Jake Martin.
For months, the friends
have been pounding the
pastures, traversing the
northwest and meeting
with regional ranchers
whose livestock they plan
to butcher and sell at the
Astoria Stock Co .
Construction on
the downtown shop is
scheduled to begin in January.
When it opens — the date is still
a bit fuzzy — Spencer and Martin
promise to offer “only humanely
raised and processed animals from
ranches they have relationships
with.”
That’s according to the press
release that announced a pop-up
dinner I attended in mid-Decem-
ber. Its purpose: spread the word
about the Stock Co . and spotlight
some of those meats.
But fi rst, a primer on Spencer
and Martin: They came up togeth-
er in Seattle kitchens. Since mov-
ing to Astoria, each spent time at
Baked Alaska. Martin works at
Bridgewater Bistro. The Stock Co .
will be their fi rst joint venture,
their fi rst times at the helm.
The pop-up dinner was gra-
ciously hosted by Street 14 Cafe,
who’re among the mindful and
forward-looking food promoters
on the North Coast. Street 14’s
staff provided front-of-house
Above: Tartare of Pastured Beef.
Above right: Lamb in Hay Ash with a
marmalade of neck, root vegetables.
Right: Chicken Liver Mousse. Left: Ta-
gliatelle “En Brodo.”
service. But Spencer and Martin
took over the kitchen. Perhaps
more than the butcher’s counter,
it’s where they’re most at home.
The menu was advertised before-
hand: fi ve carnivorous courses
with service included for a neat
and reasonable $75.
This particular Saturday was
frigid and clear. Glowing with
diners, twinkling lights and holi-
day spirit, Street 14 neared capac-
ity both at the two-tops and com-
munal tables. The crowd, made up
of supportive friends, family and
explorative eaters, bubbled along
with a complementary glass of
sparkling Chardonay.
The fi rst course — a Tartar of
Pastured Beef with a smocked tal-
low cracker, whole grain mustard
and green fi nishing salt — ended
up one of my favorites. The thin,
crumbling, wheat y cracker had
a whisp of smoke. The aioli-like
mustard was eclipsingly creamy,
light on vinegar. The sushi-grade
beef was exquisite, minced into
little cubes, painted simply with
oil and sea salt. It was taut but
melted away like ice on stove.
Stacked together, the cracker, beef
and mustard made divine little
nibbles.
The Chicken Liver Mousse was
anything but dainty, almost like a
tennis ball. The teardrop puff was
accompanied by shaved winter
greens and a few modern-art blots
of fermented huckleberry, which
served the rich, salty mousse
well. Heavy, smooth and deep, I
marveled at the way fellow diners
could eat bite after bite of mousse
by its lonesome. Sure, you could
have a few little tastes, but after
the balancing greens and tangy
huckleberry ran out, I’d had my
fi ll. An embarrassment of riches
indeed.
The ramen-like Tagliatelle
“En Brodo” pork dish was, to
me, comparatively unadorned.
The consommé broth played
only a single note. The pork
itself was delectable, but there
little of it. The noodles were
approaching something, but in
a near-room-temperature liquid,
were wanting. A neighboring
diner who was gluten intoler-
ant received apples as a noodle
replacement. I longed for them
— that crisp, broth-sopping
sweetness might’ve offered that
depth and elevation. And, indeed,
if I have one criticism of the meal
it’s the want for a few more fruits
and veggies. At the same time, I
understand the conundrum: the
dinner itself exists to showcase
meats. A Catch-22, to be sure.
That said, the lamb — along
with the beef tartare — belongs
with the best animal proteins I’ve
had all year. About the size of a
business card in 3D, the neatly
rectangular slab of lamb was
uniformly pink from edge to edge.
The sous vide technique afforded
astounding, supple tenderness.
The outer edges were rolled in
hay ash, which, besides simply
importing a smoky fl avor, actu-
alized that smokiness in tangible
texture. The root vegetables —
carrots and beets — were cooked
in hay as well, which acts as an
insulator. While the softened beets
remained their nearly indomitable
selves, the carrots assumed much
of the hay’s sweet grassiness.
It was a take on carrots wholly
new and welcome. The lamb and
veggies were stacked upon a bed
of neck marmalade. Hardly a jam,
the sinewy, reasonably sweetened
meat referencing pulled pork.
Here I celebrated the elemental,
earthy power of the beets, for their
purposefulness, both in fl avor — a
vivid counterpunch to the mar-
velous meats — and presentation.
In three colors the beets made
for a gorgeous plate — the gold
matching the carrots, the pink
playing off the tender lamb, and
the purple, who mingled with dark
marmalade. All together, the colors
swirled like a blood orange sunset.
While wholly enjoyable, the
dessert of a simple, gram-crack-
er-y crusted sugar pie with sum-
mer berry consommé seemed like
a missed opportunity. Could it not
have incorporated meat? I mean,
bacon’s a no-brainer. And clearly
chefs Martin and Spencer know
their stuff.
Nonetheless, it was a lovely
meal, one that begins with a com-
munity of ranches and ends with
new community around a table.
As one of my fi nal Mouth-related
meals of 2016, it was a terrifi c
nightcap.
As for Spencer, Martin and the
Astoria Stock Co ., rumor has it
they hope to offer a few of these
coursed, tasting menus at the
shop. There’s also talk of pre made
picnic baskets, wines, cheeses and
so-on.
As the dinner proved, the duo’s
skills in the kitchen are bona
fi de. Here’s hoping that success
extends to the butcher shop.