22 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
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Territory by Melville Farms. Basil and heir-
loom tomatoes arrived from 46 North just
outside of Astoria. Shallots were obtained
from LaNa Conscious Farm in Astoria,
with sourdough bread coming from Sea
Level Bakery in Cannon Beach.
All of this was complimented by a per-
fect pour of house-made vinegar in a small
reusable jar. Each bite burst with fl avor
and freshness, having traveled less than the
distance of a marathon to make it to your
dinner plate.
Humility in the kitchen
While the home cook can certainly pick
up culinary tricks and inspiration from Ali-
mento’s meal kits, the recipes are designed
to be executed quickly.
“I really believe that good cooking
depends less on technical skill than on an
attitude of humility in the kitchen,” Catalano
explained. “When it comes to making a tasty
plate of food, high-quality ingredients will
do most of the work for you if you let them.”
During a recent trial of Alimento’s meal
service, nothing more was required than ba-
sic cookware and cutlery, olive oil, salt and
pepper, and every dish was pulled together
in about half an hour. What makes these
meals special is having a talented chef cu-
rating the freshest possible ingredients from
the best local sources, not to mention the
hours of magical prep that Catalano puts
into his menus behind the scenes.
One week Catalano put a heritage pork
shoulder he had acquired from Nehalem
River Ranch on the smoker at 6 a.m. for a
PHOTOS BY RYAN HUME
LEFT: Bucatini pasta with house bacon, English peas, and salt-cured egg. Total prep time: 25 mins.
RIGHT: Roast chicken with purple fi let beans and heirloom tomatoes. Total prep time: 35 mins.
twelve hour low-and-slow burn before it
was pulled and portioned for sandwiches.
The next week it was house-cured bacon
and salt-cured egg yolks to round out a sin-
fully delicious dish of house-made bucatini
pasta with fresh English peas. House-made
vinegars, ferments and pickles, pre-mea-
sured sauces and dry ingredients, all of
these expert touches allow the home cook
to reach depths of fl avors in record time.
Exact quantities, easy directions
With this attention to detail, sometimes
the vegetables even fi nd their way back
to the farm. Teresa Retzlaff, of 46 North
Farm, recently ordered an Alimento meal
kit for her and her husband, Packy Cole-
man, on a week when they had supplied
much of the produce for that week’s meals.
“Andy felt awkward selling our own
produce back to us,” she said. “But I
wanted the opportunity to see how what we
grew was presented. It’s like eating a meal
at a restaurant that you supply produce
to — it’s a good thing to support your
restaurants, even if you have to cook the
food yourself!”
Retzlaff said Coleman, who likes to
follow specifi c recipes when cooking, was
immediately smitten with the kit. “I wish
I had fi lmed him unpacking it,” she said,
“exclaiming over everything, so happy
to have everything measured out in exact
quantities and easy directions to follow.”
Retzlaff and Coleman, who have been
working with Catalano since his Street
14 days, took turns cooking the meals
and found each meal delicious and fi lling
— though, as Retzlaff recalled Coleman
saying, “I’m sure it would have been better
if Andy cooked it himself.”
Catalano will be catering the Astoria
Co-op’s upcoming annual meeting Sunday,
Sept. 17, at the Red Building Loft where
the Co-op will unveil the design for their
new store. The event is currently complete-
ly booked.
Soon Catalano will start bi-monthly
fundraising dinners for the North Coast
Food Web with seating limited to twelve
guests per dinner. Retzlaff and Catalano are
planning a series of farm-to-table dinners
at 46 North for next year that would feature
their local produce as well as local meats,
fi sh and cheeses.
Alimento’s website will soon begin
selling Jacobson Salt products from Ne-
tarts, and Catalano hopes to start selling
more quality pantry essentials in the future.
With autumn fast approaching, expect to
see Asian pears, fall greens like kale and
cabbages, root vegetables, pastured meats
and wild mushrooms entering rotation in
the meal kit service.
More information
Alimento’s meal kit service is available
at alimentoastoria.com. Sign up for a news-
letter that comes out every Tuesday and
details that week’s menu.
Kits can be purchased through the Ali-
mento website at any time during the week,
and are readied in insulated bags every
Friday.
Kits are available for pick-up on Friday
afternoons at the offi ces of the North Coast
Food Web on 577 18th St., where the
meal kits are prepped and assembled in
the on-site commercial kitchen. Alimento
also offers free delivery in the downtown
Astoria area.
See what Coast Weekend cooks up with
Alimento on our website! CW
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