After seeing Scott’s thread on Willows Inn, I thought I’d post some pics I took last night from dinner. Couple of quick thoughts:
Cocktails were good, not spectacular. You do get a “free” appetizer course with them. We had several.
All-in, with ~20% tip was $700. Included 3 cocktails, 2 dinners w/wine (and a beer) pairing. No option that I saw for additional supplements
Casual attire was interesting. One couple had running shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops, another was decked out. I opted for nice jeans, a button down and loafers, which was probably the right altitude.
Photos below taken with a Nokia 1020, no flash in a room that got progressively darker. A couple of the photos are a little blurry, but consider that they’re taken at short range, with me attempting not to be obnoxious about taking photos in a dining room
View from the porch, while drinking cocktails.
Appetizer course, served with cocktails - Taylor’s oysters, lamb prosciutto and rhubarb with sugar.
Mussel, smoked with alder wood, served in a box. Server pops the top on the box, smoke comes out.
Crispy kale with black truffles. Truffle dots were intense.
Crispy crepe with steelhead roe, chives. One of my favorite plates.
Halibut skin cone, filled with halibut
Beets, with lavender, thyme and coriander, served with yogurt. Flavors were wild, and I’m not generally a beet fan.
Strangest course of the night - gooseneck barnacles. Pretty sure this was added to the meal because the chef said “barnacle? I can make those edible.”
Local spot prawn, poached with its roe, drowning in butter. Looking for a way to go? Drowning in butter would be in my top 5, behind drowning in pork fat and possibly drowning in pinot noir.
Smoked sockeye. Jiro would be proud.
Sliced geoduck with “pork crunchies”
Fresh baked bread - served with butter and pan drippings. I could slurp the pan drippings until I had a coronary. Just saying.
Grilled Romano beans with crushed herbs. Photo not as good; I blame the veggie plate.
Steamed black cod with lovage and cherry tomato
Grass-fed lamb, topped with… grass
Ran out of gas here. Berries with some kind of a granita
Wood sorrels, chamomile ice cream
Only thing I skipped a pic of was a ramekin of black huckleberries because it was… a ramekin filled with black huckleberries.
2012 Maison Bleue “Metis Blanc” (Yakima Valley, WA)
Logsdon Seizoen Bretta Farmhouse Ale (Hood River, OR)
2012 Lemelson Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay (Willamette Valley, OR)
2009 Dusky Goose Pinot Noir (Dundee, OR)
2012 Brooks “Tethys” Riesling (Eola-Amity, OR)
Overall service lasted exactly three hours. No way I’d try to visit and take a ferry back. We stayed at the Low Tide room, about a half mile down the road and walked to/from dinner. If you do that, make sure you have a flashlight app on your phone and it’s charged… it is pitch black outside
Thanks Andrew- You had a very similar meal to mine (the menu hasn’t changed a ton in the last few weeks.)
One of the most memorable meals I have had in a long time. I can still taste the kale chips, the venison, the chicken drippings… The cod with lovage (I thought it was lummage) was a bit of a miss for me as it was just a bit bitter, but there were things that I doubt I will ever have better examples of. (The smoked fishes were unreal.)
And dammit- you were lucky to get Perceves! (Gooseneck barnacles) I haven’t had those since going to Lisbon. Were they local? Where were they sourced?
Lovage is a PacNW herb. Beats the heck out of dandelion greens, which has been trendy for a while.
Funny thing about the Logsdon - the server made a huge deal about it being a hard to get, highly allocated beer. Stopped at Whole Foods in Redmond on the way home… and found it on sale. Picked one up, of course
Don’t recall where the barnacles were from. I enjoyed them more for the unique experience than any redeeming flavor/taste value. Overall the visual experience was on par with the taste, which really sent it onto overdrive. The halibut skins looked insane, sitting on a bed of rocks.
Intent was one glass at a time, with new glasses/pairing brought out in advance of dishes they paired with. Bottomless glass service, but aside from the beer, nothing that I was looking to plow through.
I enjoyed the cider too- first hard cider I have actually understood and liked.
But in general- I agree that the wine service was not super thoughtful or inspired. I would have been just as happy or happier even doing as Glenn did, or just ordering a bottle off the list.
I heard that juice service was really interesting, but juice is for breakfast, not dinner.
![[welldone.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/fc9709a841aa9379fd892a9cf0b535b05f473b86.gif "[welldone.gif]"){kind=small}
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}