A Dinner at Erizo

Erizo opened up last year with a focus on sustainable local seafood as the main concept. And they are serious about that – no land animals at all, 100% seafood, local to the West Coast and perhaps even specific to Oregon. In fact, so specific that perhaps they were harvested by the head chefs and owners Jacob Harth or Nicholas Van Eck. Others are sustainably farmed, or are invasive species that eating helps the ecosystem, or are byproducts of other seafood that is more mainstream, or are local but not appreciated on regular seafood menus. No surprise that Eater named Erizo one of the best new restaurants in the US and created a Deep Dive video series to learn more. Here’s a look at what the experience of a dinner at Erizo is like.

Reservations are required and two seatings only available (either 5:30 or 8:15 PM), but this ~20 seat restaurant is not stuffy despite the tablecloths. The dinners are served Thursday-Saturday only, with 20 courses in about 2 1/2 hours for $125.

We started out with a warm welcome broth of squid and matsutake. The broth’s squid was caramelized at sister restaurant Bar Casa Vale next door. The earthy slightly smoky broth was just a hint of the pow of flavors to come.

We had a group of 5, so most platters came with either the bites for 3 people or the bites for 2 people so you may see my photos take turns between the two platings. After warming up our tongues, we then were given a cool down with native oysters and limpets. The native Washington oysters were topped with a granita that included horseradish and another ingredient that I can’t read my handwriting (ha the menu is small so my notes are all over the place – you can see a photo at the end of this post). The limpets, from Tillamook Bay, are served simply with a mustard seed oil.

Next was a mix of 5 cold and warm snacks, including

• clockwise starting from the skewer, a pacific octopus and green garlic, the octopus is a byproduct catch of Dungeness Crab and grilled on a skewer;
• smoked cod and sourdough, the black cod is smoked over alder wood and also topped with horseradish;
  
• purple sea urchin and chickpea, this type of sea urchin is an invasive species in the Pacific so eating these can help save the environment, no joke;
  
• a dungeness crab pie that includes a flaky puff pastry along with crab in a sauce also made from crab;
  
• a play on fish and chips with the tempura fried spiny dogfish with celery mayo
  

Next was 5 different shellfish on a platter including

• a horseneck clam and green bamboo served simply with California olive oil;
  
• cockle clam and winter melon rind and juice in a ceviche style;
  
• butter clam and bergamot zest and juice;
  
• pacific oyster and wasabi with toasted seaweed oil is the one with the dark inky liquid;
  
• side stripe prawns in a tartare style
  

Yes, the butter clam here are the same featured in the Deep Dive Video Diving for World Class Butter Clams

Now from snacks to dishes. Next was a red sea urchin and black truffle dish, the sea urchin is native to the Pacific NW and caught via nearshore long line. The urchin is used in the sauce that is a bit like carbonara, then served here with an Amish buttercream polenta. The kind of dish I ran my finger all along the bottom to not leave anything behind.

This was followed by albacore tuna and gold rice, and sardine with yuzu. The gold rice here is a special heirloom type that is also aged in Kirin whisky barrels.

The first of the two main events came next with trout and brassicas – the trout is farmed with microalgae and grilled, and aged for 21 days, the greens are a grilled tatsoi with shitake, while the prawn and lardo dish is in a mushroom sauce

Sea Snails and burdock, a chowder with these red lipped snails that are also hanging out with grilled abalone, was a nice creamy break until the next fish.

And then the most substantial course, chicories and anchovy vinaigrette, and bbq chub mackerel with homemade take on parker house rolls.

Dessert still included gifts from the sea too. A kelp and grapefruit dish included curd, brown butter crumble, kelp oil with Vermont maple syrup, along with single origin chocolate with wild rice.

The whole experience was an incredible adventure of new flavors and textures while also being educational. With every dish set down was a setting of a story – how it was prepared, where it came from.

Even as someone who I think has tried lots of flavors and food, along with several other foodie friends dining alongside of me we all continued to be wowed through the courses. I could not keep up with all the information being shared on the magic behind the seafood and then the wizardry of how the taste was crafted in the kitchen – look at my poor menu at the end of the night.

You can order libations (including non-alcoholic ones) a la carte, or opt for a $75 pairing that either leans more towards wine or more towards sake. At the end of the dinner you get clean copy of the menu, as well as a list of where the seafood was sourced, down to the name of the Captain and name of the fishing vessel and how the seafood was caught.

It really takes sustainability and supporting locals to a new level – and has taught me so much appreciation of frankly how much more the ocean has to offer. Also diving for wild shellfish looks scary. Those working in the sea are crazy brave.

I would highly recommend Erizo to anyone who loves seafood. That said, you definitely have to be able to eat anything and everything that appears on the plate – every course is touched by the sea in some way.