Catch It if You Can

BY MICHAEL C. ZUSMAN

Câche Câche, a raw seafood bar from Kurt Huffman’s ChefStable and St. Jack chef John Denison, is Portland’s newest and neatest oceanic idyll. Its existence is a fortuity: Huffman had a scrap of indoor space to fill at the shared site of the Lil’ America cart pod, Fracture Brewing tasting room and the almost-open Dos Hermanos Bakery production facility. Denison was looking for something new to add to his impressive portfolio that includes a decade of cooking at restaurants in France. Voilà: A saltwater star is born.

The original idea was to offer a short slate of raw seafood dishes, ordered electronically, then prepared by a single chef and picked up when ready by patrons. This would minimize costs beyond the already difficult to swallow expense of quality fish and shellfish. It has not worked out quite as planned: Denison usually has help in the open kitchen and a server or two on duty, bringing out paper menus and taking orders from the many who are convinced that QR code menus are the devil’s handiwork. The servers typically run the food when it’s ready.

Still, pricing remains reasonable for what you get unless your point of comparison is a cheeseburger. More importantly, Denison’s dishes are at once uncommon and uniformly excellent, so much so that after working through the short menu, you crave more options. Denison has said that will come in time. One can only hope.

As it stands, there is a lobster roll ($25) that might cause a Mainer’s eyes to grow misty—or maybe not. Its virtue (and vice) is that it charts its own course, tracking neither the toasted bun, melted butter-only style nor the mayo-heavy, salad version. Dubious notions of authenticity aside, Denison’s lobster roll is like an oasis in a seafood desert. It begins with 3 ounces of Maine lobster cooked in butter. The meat is dressed lightly with tarragon-infused aioli that also incorporates chopped chives, shallots, a little chardonnay vinegar and a lot of lemon. The “bun” is actually a cuboid cut from a crustless Dos Hermanos Pullman loaf. The bread is scooped out on top and the sides darkly browned in clarified butter. Next, the dressed lobster is loaded in, brown butter is drizzled on top, and a generous flurry of buttermilk powder completes the ensemble. The result is crunchy, meaty, sweet, herbaceous and as rich as Bill Gates. Everyone must order this; sharing is a bad idea.

For a foursome or beyond, the soundest strategy is to order the entire balance of the menu for family-style enjoyment. Beyond the lobster roll, highlights to date include the unlikely sardine toast ($14). Fillets of the unabashedly strong, oily fish are brined, brushed with honey and kissed with char. They are placed atop a thick slice of Dos Hermanos bâtard schmeared thickly with a red onion, cornichon and caper aioli. A bunch of fresh dill is strewn over the sardines, and a half lemon is offered to squeeze over it all. Take advantage and glory in the full spectrum of powerful flavors.

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