That is some gorgeous food! Thanks so much for the pics.
And honestly, given the lighting and fullness of the table, I wasn't able to to do most items justice. So however they look here, they're better looking by half in person.
Posted 29 May 2010 - 11:00 AM
That is some gorgeous food! Thanks so much for the pics.
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's
Posted 09 June 2010 - 02:27 PM
Posted 24 June 2010 - 07:39 AM
Posted 30 August 2010 - 11:30 AM
Lightner will be cooking up a storm at the NYC foundation venue next Wednesday (if you happen to be heading to the east coast, pick up your tickets here); for the rest of us PDX-tied sad sacks, Lightner revealed the menu on the Beard House blog this morning: Along with pigs' ears and lardo apps, Lightner will represent with an Oregon beef and wheat grass main course.
Hors d’Oeuvre
Lardo and Tomatoes on Brioche
Salmon on Rye Toasts
Cheese Puffs with Garlic Aďoli
Crispy Pigs’ Ears with Radishes and Hazelnuts
Pairing: Matello Ribbon Ridge Pinot Gris 2009
Dinner
Willamette Valley Onion Salad with Caramelized Allium Vinegar, Herbs, and Crisp Vegetables
Pairing: Andrew Rich Vintner Roussanne 2007
Black Cod with Shell Beans, Seaweed, Brown Butter Infusion, and Wild Salcornia
Pairing: Matello Caprice 2009
Charred Oregon Beef with Poached Potatoes, Wheat Grass, and Leek Ash
Pairing: The Eyrie Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir 2007
Beets and Berries with Salted Meringue
Pairing: Andrew Rich Vintner Gewürztraminer 2007
Licorice Root with Streusel and Tahitian Vanilla
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's
Posted 30 August 2010 - 05:22 PM
Posted 30 September 2010 - 12:24 AM
Ten years in, Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard’s only successful fine-dining venture has dramatically reinvented itself, under the leadership of lauded chef Matt Lightner, in a transformation no less surprising than, say, the phrase “Senator Al Franken.” The restaurant that once specialized in enormous pork chops and bright fried vegetables is now the stage for bold culinary experimentation of a sort we’ve rarely seen in this city.
....
A few examples, which certainly won’t be on the menu by the time you read this: thick slices of quick-pickled cucumber marinated in rice vinegar and dill, sprinkled with flowers and peeled green almonds, attacked from the side by an avalanche of snowy powder—actually frozen, shaved, smoked tuna—that looked like some sort of accident and tasted like some sort of sushi ($14); a dish of morel mushrooms, buckwheat groats, ferns and barbecued lamb that looked and smelled like a forest floor ($23); a carrot, poached in birch-wood syrup, coated with finely chopped bone marrow and hazelnuts, that tasted like a barbecued pork rib ($14); an aged loin strip steak ($30) that tasted grilled not because it had ever seen smoke, but because it was rubbed with garlic ash (slightly gritty, but not unpleasant). Even a relatively traditional appetizer of grilled shallots and squid arms in pan jus ($15) was presented as a terrifying Lovecraftian landscape. As I ate, I imagined Lightner grinning as he positioned the tentacles just so. Why serve chanterelles over a gelatinous rectangle or corn curd? Why not?
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's
Posted 18 October 2010 - 08:04 AM
Posted 26 October 2010 - 10:39 AM
Posted 26 October 2010 - 07:01 PM
Posted 13 December 2010 - 07:57 PM
Castagna
Portland, Oregon
Chef Matt Lighner uses the expected local ingredients (Dungeness crab, blueberries) as well as the unusual (green almonds, ferns, nettles), with dazzling results. 1752 SE Hawthorne Boulevard; 503-231-7373; castagnarestaurant.com
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's
Posted 13 January 2011 - 01:28 AM
Call him our gastronomic Harry Potter…David Blaine…Pablo Picasso. Whether they deem him a wizard, magician, or artist in the kitchen, the local and national culinary critics can’t seem to stop praising Matt Lightner, 30, executive chef at Castagna since October 2009.
....
New Year’s Eve is essentially the food scene Super Bowl, but here the young chef takes a brief break to answer a few questions for us about what’s cooking—past, present, and future.
1) What one item on your menu right now would you say best represents your philosophy of cooking perfected on a plate?
A dish of lightly-cured scallops dressed with a milk made from parsley root, an ice made from the juice of unripe pears, and dandelion greens. It allows us to use very mainstream ingredients in a new fashion, taking a time of year that’s generally rich and heavy and, instead, making it refreshing.
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's
Posted 14 May 2011 - 01:56 PM
Posted 14 May 2011 - 01:57 PM
Posted 14 May 2011 - 02:04 PM
Posted 14 May 2011 - 02:52 PM
Posted 14 May 2011 - 03:03 PM
Posted 14 May 2011 - 03:16 PM
Posted 14 May 2011 - 10:07 PM
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's
Posted 15 May 2011 - 05:59 AM
Posted 15 May 2011 - 08:24 AM
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin, Mi Mero Mole
Co-Author, Artisan Jewish Deli at Home
Formerly, Kenny & Zuke's