THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Vestal

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Vestal Restaurant Review:

Josh Henderson first gained fame as a leader of the food truck trend, serving burgers out of an Airstream trailer, but his latest home is about as far from those beginnings as possible. Vestal, both in ambience and décor, is designed as a tribute to the woodsy Northwest corner of the country. The host stand is made from a giant, ancient stump, while fresher wood keeps the hearth --- the kitchen’s prime cooking apparatus --- roaring with fire. It is where the bread, served with house-made cultured butter, is warmed, where cauliflower and Romanesco are roasted before they meet cured duck, and where the carrots are charred before getting sauced with pickled plum aïoli and finger limes. Color from vegetables, garnishes and sauces dances from the plate. Local seafood shows up in dishes like cedar plank salmon, livened with crisp skin and yuzu kosho salt. Dessert doesn’t see time in the hearth, around which the chef’s counter seats are arranged, but it is similarly inspired by the local woods, as in the zucchini cake with huckleberries, corn ice cream and candied squash blossom. A fascinating list of cocktails leans citrusy and includes low-proof options, while the short-but-sweet wine list mixes mineral whites with big-flavored reds.