Ethan Stowell's Greenwood eatery Mkt had been bellowing to us for a while and we finally found a slow Sunday evening to make the much anticipated trip. Found a reservation for three at about two hours' notice (I wouldn't extrapolate that data to the future since we were sailing in on the tail of a long weekend; reserve early enough whenever you decide to visit since it has limited seating).
And if this wasn't enough, three gorgeous desserts made their way to the table. Dinah's cheese plate, chocolate malt budino, and a blackberry-blueberry tart.
Dinah's cheese has never been my thing, unfortunately. However the pumpernickel bread served with the cheese had a raw sweet grubbiness to it that stayed with me.
Mkt has a varied share-able menu. Which immediately resulted in the awesomeness of three of us ordering nine things! So here goes my list of loves, likes, and spites!
We started with zuchinni and yellow squash fritters, roated pork loin, and hamachi ceviche.
The zucchini-squash fritters (bottom left) were my least favorite thing on the menu. They lacked the weight of either zucchini or squash. They could have been any other plant, flower, or herb for all you cared!
The rabbit (bottom right), however, jolted me out of my Sunday evening reverie. I suddenly felt that I was eating a very good chicken! ☺️ Rabbit usually tastes like rabbit to me (ha!) so while the chicken-y taste was a surprise, must say that the thyme, juniper/celery puree along with treviso-bacon salad took it a notch (or many) beyond any grilled rabbit that I have ever tasted. However, my favorite food of the evening was the hamachi ceviche (top venter). Tender pieces of hamachi complimented perfectly by a citrus cucumber ice and the tart sharpness of pickled onions made for a kickass and wonderfully different cevice.
Next up spice crusted lamb, quail, and salmon belly.
The lamb roasted with horseradish and fried quail with rhubarb sauce were both very good without being outstanding. But as they say, everything in life is relative. And in this case the poor lamb and quail were competing with the formidable smoked sockeye salmon belly with dill creme fraiche.
The lamb roasted with horseradish and fried quail with rhubarb sauce were both very good without being outstanding. But as they say, everything in life is relative. And in this case the poor lamb and quail were competing with the formidable smoked sockeye salmon belly with dill creme fraiche.
And if this wasn't enough, three gorgeous desserts made their way to the table. Dinah's cheese plate, chocolate malt budino, and a blackberry-blueberry tart.
Budinos are always difficult since every chef seems to have her (his?) own interpretation of it. This one was light and fluffy yet rich to the core - the sort that I love from the core of my heart! I definitely want to see a dark chocolate version of it! The blaclberry-blueberry came chaperoned by some marscarpone gelato and shaved almonds and was a heady mix of warm, cold, sweet, and tart that is best described through the rapture of sensory nerves on the tongue. Order it. Always.
I couldn't end this post without a special mention of the fantastic service. Our waitress was a dream. Unfortunately her name escapes me now, but suffice to say, I left with a hug!
Now for the big question. Will I return to Mkt? I loved their food. A lot! And I will highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been. And I will return to taste again whenever they change their menu (while desperately praying that the salmon belly, the ceviche, and the desserts have attained immortality on the menu).
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