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
