Castagna has been serving up fine dining prix fixe modern gastronomy menus for two decades now. Castagna and owner Monique Siu and head chef Justin Woordward have been nominated for James Beard Awards under the categories of Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Northwest multiple years in a row. This past spring, they have decided to offer a new alternative to the tasting menus, one that is even more accessible in cost and time commitment. Now, besides the 13-20 course chef’s tasting menu, two days a week on Wednesday and Thursdays there is a new option of a six course Castagna Explorative Dinner Series menu.

For the Explorative Dinner Series, the dinner courses have a theme that changes every two months. During my visit the theme was Surf and Turf (the first themed the series), but the new theme for July 2019 is the Green Menu. Unlike the chef’s tasting menu which sits at $165 with $85 wine pairing extra as an option, a Castagna Explorative Dinner will run $75 per person, with the optional wine pairing featuring west coast wines at $45.

Here’s a look at what a Castagna Explorative Dinner was like for me during my visit to give you an idea of the kind of dishes that might be created for a theme.

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