In the burgeoning food scene that is Seattle 2013, we’ve already seen a great many thing that can happen on a plate. And lately it seems that chefs everywhere are showing us just how zany they can be with their ingredients — but is taste getting passed to the back burner? Though some of Seattle’s food interests seem kitschy, sometimes they’re absolute genius. Like the effective usage of smoking a product, or adding an alcoholic reduction to something unusual and complimentary. But then there are the oddballs; the ones you can’t help but Instagram and hashtag because it’s either frothing, smoking, or in a jiggling, gelatinized clump. They read well and look gorgeous, but would you say that you’re burning to order them again?

I did some (erp) very difficult reporting, sampling some of the city’s more innovative cuisine last week to find out what works and what doesn’t. And although I’m sure I missed hundreds of unique and effective plates, here are the few that stood out over the course of a few meals, and whether or not they sacrificed taste for show.

Deviled eggs in a soup spoon

It’s deviled eggs, but instead of a mayonnaise and mustard whipped-up filling, it’s a smear on the bottom of a spoon. A smear that sticks to the roof of your mouth and your incisors when you try to scrape it from the soup spoon into your mouth. The crispy, thick slice of bacon was great, and the Cackleberry Farms eggs were full of protein-y purity, but all in all, this revision of an American classic was ineffective. This deviled egg is a creation of Chef Antonio Campolio of The Marc Restaurant of Walla Walla, shown to Seattle during a pop-up dinner at the VUDE.

Oregon Coast sea bass with aged sherry gastric. And pink foam.

That bubbly pink hat the fish in the picture is wearing is actually pretty modest. Most preparations had quite a healthy helping of foam, peacefully sitting atop a very fine cut of sea bass — so just imagine a lot more of it. While distracting and snapshot-worthy, the foam itself did little for me. (Guess it’s good they gave me a pittance.) The real star of this seafood Rothko was the relationship between the perfectly cooked and finely glazed fish and the aged sherry gastrique it swam in (the raspberry-colored juice on the bottom) — a perfect example of an extra, probably unnecessary step in an otherwise flawless execution. The dish also included lemon basil, pickled garlic, and huckleberries prepared in three ways, prepared again by Chef Antonio Campolio of The Marc Restaurant.

Oyster and fried geoduck on smoking wood chips

This dish is best served hot, and for obvious, wood-centric reasons. When it arrived, the wood chips were literally smoking like a camp fire, and subsequently warming the elements in the half shell, a Pacific Northwest oyster oodelalee (meaning amazing) and a thinly fried geoduck. It took me back to summer evenings by a fire on Hood Canal, with the sea air in your lungs and the scent of burning wood in your hair. With caviar intermixed, this piece stood out as one of the shining moments from Chef Jeff Maxfield’s preview dinner at SkyCity — and it was too bad this appetizer lasted only two bites.

Salmon with atomized absinthe

Always a shame when you waste expensive good absinthe. I wish I could say better things regarding two of my favorite ingredients, but the North Pacific Salmon got, well, too complicated with the licorice-forward Pacifique Absinthe, which was atomized and drizzled around it. Everyone gawked and cheered when Chef Maxfield introduced his take on Seattle’s favorite fish with the notorious once-banned liquor, but it took the combination of the sweet baked apple and fresh kale for me to keep at this dish.

Liquid nitrogen gin and lemon cucumber sorbet

It’s a hell of an alcoholic palate cleanser. Chef Campolio is combining St. Germain, Walla Walla Distillery gin, and fresh ingredients with liquid nitrogen, which freezes it all into a melty sorbet that will kick you in the pants. The texture was full of microscopic, icy particles, and the essence of cucumber was so perfectly refreshing an intermezzo, I was elated when my companion said she didn’t like gin. Hand it over, princess. Here is an example of a dish for which iThings were out in droves, their owners’ jaws ajar and smiling, but the final execution was so completely worth feeling like a tourist for a few minutes, and for those few bites.

 

 

 

 

James Beard recognized Chef Antonio Campolio is the executive chef of The Marc Restaurant in Walla Walla, and you can find him cooking there. SkyCity’s Executive Chef Jeff Maxfield will be showcasing his menu at The James Beard House in New York City on October 19. You never know — sometimes Craigslist surprises us.

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for seconds, and all your wildest dreams will come true.