Cascadia

Editor's note - this restaurant has now closed. the notes below are of historical interest only. 

This is a new establishment by established chef Kerry Sear. An elegant dining room had high ceilings and acres of wood panelling, giving a calm atmosphere. There were four set seven-course menus, each reflecting aspects of a distinctly Northwestern cuisine. I started with an excellent salad of chilled Dungeness crab, featuring fresh crab, fine leaves and a celery root apple relish (16/20). This was followed by a half cured slab of salmon with crisp sweet potatoes but with a somewhat dull green herb sauce (14/20). Better was skillet-roasted crab cake with some juicy scallops, served with some grilled potato and with an elderberry syrup - an odd idea that actually worked quite well (15/20).

Next was a cylinder of bacon encasing some rainbow trout with a cornmeal stuffing and some grilled yams; the bacon kept the fish moist, and the strong taste of the trout was able to stand up to the bacon (15/20). The main course was tenderloin of tender local beef, served with rosemary garlic fries on a bed of creamed spinach with grilled leeks (15/20). Oregon blue cheese was very salty, and of course pasteurised, this being America (11/20). Dessert was a generous portion of excellent gingerbread (15/20), rounding off a very fine meal. Service was excellent throughout, the wine list was well thought out.