Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Challenge: Rich Table

You know what's really good? Like really, surprisingly good? 

Sardine chips.

What is a sardine chip? 

I'm so glad you asked. 

Last week, I asked my friend Mary Z if she wanted to go check out Rich Table. I was dimly aware that Rich Table was this new restaurant in Hayes that was getting stellar reviews. It came to my attention that they hit number one on the 7x7 list, for something called . . . sardine chips. 

Mary and I emailed back and forth about whether we should sit at the bar or wait a month to get a reservation for dinner. The more people we talked to, the more raves we heard, and then literally within the space of a day Rich Table got nominated for Bon Appetit's best new restaurants in the country. At that point, I think it's safe to say we were excited. We decided to go, STAT. 

We waited an hour and a half to sit at the bar. They're not messing around, guys. The good news is, you can eat at the bar. Which we did. We feasted in the way that only twenty-something credit-card-happy foodies can feast. It was magnificent.

I had some hypotheses going in about what a sardine chip might be. Perhaps it was an entire sardine, deep-fried like a French fry. Perhaps it was a potato chip, seasoned with minced or pulverized sardine (thinking anchovy, or dried shrimp?). But no, it was none of these things. It was so much more.
 

A sardine chip is a large slice of potato, slit twice in the center, with a sardine fillet (side of sardine?) jimmied through, and fried in entirety like a potato chip. If you're still not sure, let me say, I get it. Sardines are at the fishy end of the pool. But the Pacific Northwesterner in me loved the chewiness and that pronounced, briny flavor. It wasn't gross. Not even a little bit. It was awesome.

We also had some stellar "donuts" with porcini powder, octopus bolognese, pappardelle with dry aged beef, and buttermilk poached chicken. Oh, and cocktails. Seriously--book now. The waits are going to get worse before they get better.


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