FOOD
On one plate then the other ... BW sends two critics to one restaurant.
RED FEATHER LOUNGE
Live jazz
7 nights a week!
including Shawn Schlogel, Brent Vaartstra, Steve Eaton, Phil Garonzik, Kevin Kirk, Jon Hyneman, Sally Tibbs, John Jones, & Mike Seifrit, just to name a few!
981 West Grove Street, Boise
383.4300
ChandlersBoise.com 30
| JULY 29 – AUGUST 4, 2009 |
I
LAURIE PEARMAN
featuring Boise’s finest jazz musicians
L
ate on a Wednesday night, my friend the art professor ’ll admit that at times, I have lost faith. Lost faith in the notion that and I were seated at a small table in Red Feather’s dimly you can get a really good meal, in a stylish atmosphere without taklit upper level. Noisy revelers filled the booths on the ing out a loan or feeling like some kind of hick in the city. Thanks ground floor near the bar, providing a nice dichotomy between to a recent dinner at Red Feather Lounge, I’m a born-again foodie. the jovial atmosphere downstairs and the hushed conversations I once again believe that good food doesn’t have to be overly pretenabove. And though cozy, the overall assessment of Red Feather tious, yet it can be both creative and familiar, giving diners the duality could easily cross the line from elegant to pretentious, but safely of being both comforted and challenged. avoids sticking its nose in the air with a menu that offers beautiInside Red Feather’s narrow confines, the atmosphere is, in a word, fully prepared, yet simple hip. Dark, curving booths Americana food and serline one wall, while above vice that is efficacious but a small bar mixing some not overly solicitous. of the most creative cockI love a hearty bowl tails around, seating fills of mac and cheese—even the balcony. The area is out of a box—and any centered on a multi-story time I see it listed on a wine cellar that glows fine-dining menu as just with blue neon. Of course, that and not “pasta and some diners opt for the parmagiano” or “macasee-and-be-seen patio, ronis et fromage,” I’m shared by sister eatery Bitlikely to order it. And tercreek Alehouse. after eating Red Feather’s After spending at least honestly monikered maca10 minutes perusing the roni and cheese ($10), I wine list we started with may never eat boxed crap the smoked Idaho trout again. Tangy Ballard Famappetizer ($10). The ily white cheddar oozed trout was a little fishier through large, almost al than I like, but paired dente elbow noodles, and with homemade crackers, after one bite, I would fromage blanc, red onions, RED FEATHER LOUNGE even have forgiven a “fromage” on the menu. I capers and roasted garlic, it was a build-your-own 246 N. Eighth St., 208-429-6340 paired the dish with an order of Red Feather’s adventure with a surprising complexity of flavors. justeatlocal.com signature housecut fries, which are sprinkled with I had heard about Red Feather’s French fries Lunch: Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m-2:30 p.m. Happy Hour: Sun.-Thur., 4-6 p.m. herbs and shredded parmesan and served with a from co-workers, so I let my curiosity lead me to Dinner: Sun.-Thur., 5-10 p.m., spicy ketchup dipping sauce. order a simple burger ($8.50, $1.25 for cheese). Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m. The art professor ordered the cedar-plank roastBut by “simple,” I mean one of the most complex Brunch: Sat.-Sun., 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ed Wild Bristol Bay Salmon with beurre blanc, flavor combinations I’ve ever had. BW Card Member sided with wild rice ($14). The large, pink salmon The burger came on a locally baked chalsteak flaked off the fork like phyllo dough and lah bun. Beyond the rich flavor of the beef, the the wild rice—a dish I seldom enjoy—must have been drizzled burger was brought to life with the combination of some very strong with the sauce; the dense, weedy-tasting grain was dulcified by a flavors, which ran the risk of clashing, but instead found harmony. The delectable buttery and slightly tart essence. horseradish-based saloon sauce gave a welcome bite, while the English The waiter-recommended glass of the Cinder Viognier ($8) huntsman cheese I chose played the role of the earthy and tangy foil. was a bit sweeter than expected, but cool and bright and a pleasAnd the fries. Oh, the fries. They lived up to every hype. The handant libation in the waning heat of the day. cut gems were expertly prepared so that they were never greasy, not To expand our flavor profiles for the night, the art professor even when they cooled off. The grated Parmesan sprinkled across the ordered the grilled kale Caesar salad ($6) and I ordered the wedge top was a little taste of fromage heaven. While I tried to keep them to of butterleaf ($5) with grilled tomato, fried shallots, shaved myself, my dining companions discovered them and suddenly fingers parmesan-reggiano and buttermilk chive dressing. A few brown flashed from across the table onto my plate. spots on the leaf ends and the unrefined way in which a person Not that they had anything to complain about. One ordered the must consume a wedge salad even in a fine-dining establishment strip steak off the fixed-price menu ($24 for one person), which arrived didn’t completely derail the dish. I swirled the oily tomatoes grilled to pink-in-the-middle perfection, stacked on top of roasted poaround in the zesty cheese and the chive dressing and felt I’d at tatoes with a few lima beans tossed in for good measure. His meal was least taken a bite out of the food pyramid’s recommendation of prefaced by a grilled kale Caesar salad that also had every other fork on daily vegetables. And then I tried the professor’s kale salad. the table making mad jabs. Kale is hearty roughage, and takes a little In high school, I worked at a Wendy’s. I was usually on salad extra chewing, but all the longer to savor the dressing with the wonderbar, responsible for topping off crocks with cubes of ham, shred- ful, salty bite of a traditional Caesar without being overt. ded cheese and kidney beans, filling a large plastic bowl with Our table was also graced by the pan-seared Alaskan halibut ($17), lettuce and stuffing the spaces in between with decorative kale. In which could be held up in culinary schools as an example of how fish is the years since then, that stiff leafy green has found its way onto supposed to be cooked. The mild halibut was given a peppery seasonplates instead of just around them, but other than throwing it in ing that accented the moist, flaky fish and left a welcome aftertaste a blender with fruit to add texture to a smoothie, I wouldn’t have that happily lingered in our mouths. The dish came accompanied by considered it as a main ingredient until Red Feather’s offering. zucchini fritters, delicious little deep-fried morsels that again had forks Served as an unassuming pile of wilted, dark green leaves, sneaking away from their own plates. topped with crushed croutons and more of that lick-it-off-theWe managed to refrain from actually licking our plates but only beplate parmesan-reggiano, I was shocked when I tasted it. The cause the frozen chocolate lavender julep that came with the fixed-price gritty texture of the leaves was subdued by the grilling preparameal was still to come. Here’s a warning: If you don’t like the taste of tion, and the salty Caesar dressing married blissfully to the bosky lavender, don’t order this. But if you do, it’s an amazingly light concocflavor of the kale. Near the end of our meal, I noticed that neither tion of mint, lavender and chocolate sorbet that had two of us fighting salt nor pepper graced our table but, more importantly, hadn’t for straws to suck up the last elegantly scented pools. been missed. For less than two Andrew Jacksons apiece, we’d Knowing that Red Feather uses mainly local, regional and organic dined on sophisticated but unfussy food and discovered that kale ingredients only made the meal better. It was a welcome reminder of can be so much more than garnish. I wonder what the chefs at how the flavors of the Northwest can sing when in the hands of a good Red Feather could do with parsley ... conductor. Hallelujah. I’m a convert.
BOISEweekly
—Amy Atkins will eat her greens come kale or high water.
—Deanna Darr is a new member of the church of food. WWW.BOISEWEEKLY.COM