Hungrygrrl

We sat down at the chef bar and looked up to see the chef, Dalis Chea, opening oysters. Sitting so close to the kitchen must have given us street cred, because in a few minutes he had placed two shiso-crusted shrimp in front of us.

They were amazingly fresh even for Seattle, almost as good as the shrimp we had in Vietnam except that those were still moving when they hit the plate. Crunchy from a quick dip in the fryer, brightened by the shiso, topped with a srichacha foam and laid aside a spicy green mango salad—they were a perfect first bite.

It felt like we were the only customers at a sushi bar, with Dalis as our caretaker. He told us about his 10 month old boy at home, his Chinese-cambodian roots. And he kept offering us bites of this or that.

“You have to try an oyster. Shigoku are the best.”

They were clean, almost floral, like a swallow of sea water.

Dalis is more than just a friendly chef, he has a fiercely competitive side and it shows in his food. Everything was cooked perfectly, every crust a golden brown. As we peeked over the counter, watching his sous chef plate the golden beet gazpacho, we saw a small statue shaped to look like a globe. At the bottom was a quote: “Second place is the first loser.”

Perhaps a reminder that Spring Hill is just a few blocks away.

The two establishments could not be more different. Where Spring Hill is austere, Fresh Bistro is warm with soaring sea green ceilings and a floor stained to look like bamboo. In the dining room there’s a neighborly buzz, the owners greeting all the customers. The place was packed for its opening night, but you would hardly have known it. The air in the kitchen was calm as the staff carefully removed pans from the oven, and placed crabcakes in a line with dollops of sauce.

After a few moments, we had a taste of pork belly, rich with soy sauce and a dijon demi-glace and topped with soft pickled mustard seeds.

Then there were halibut cheeks, alongside a thai beet salad. The halibut was good, fresh as it should be, but the beet salad stole the show.

“Beets have the texture of green mango,” Dalis explained, as we exclaimed over the spicy salad.

But we forgot of all this when the lamb arrived. The chop had the char of the grill, the center a perfect medium rare with a topping of silky currant demi-glace that deftly countered the meatiness. Grits alongside added a down-home touch.

My halibut paled in comparison, but it wasn’t really fair. The halibut came over fava beans with a delicate white wine sauce. It was like Gwyneth Paltrow in a white linen dress trying to compete with Angelina Jolie in crushed velvet.

And truthfully the fava beans were inspired. Their vegetal toothsomeness worked well with the halibut, the flavors were earthy and soft.

After all of this, we couldn’t resist Dalis’ description of the crème brulee as “quiet strange.” Cobe cracked the shattery crust and took a bite, then his eyes widened.

“Basil!”

Topped with a tomato basil balsamic reduction, it was like a sweet caprese. It worked perfectly.

It was such a perfect night, I’m almost afraid to go back.

Cross your fingers.

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Fresh Bistro
(206) 935-3733
4725 42nd Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
www.herbanfeast.com/freshbistro/