More photos from Nutshell

NOTE: 10/10/2007: Chef Sean Coryell has left Nutshell. What this means for the food remains to be seen.
(this according to aidensnd at PortlandFood.org)

I just had the most phenomenally delicious dinner. It was delicious and innovative and beautiful and not outrageously expensive.

Nutshell is brandspanking new, in the suddenly happening neighborhood at the east edge of NoPo, on Williams Street. It's casual and sophisticated in the same breath. Concrete floors, painted cinderblock, and beautiful wooden booths. Books for exchange located near interesting beers and wines for retail. And carnivorous plants, gorgeous carnivorous plants.

I've had people I know rave about the food here. My neighbor, who isn't a foodie, told me he wanted to lick the plate. So I was excited to finally get to eat there.

Looking at the menu, I felt a bit of panic. What to order?!? It's a little overwhelming. Salads are $5-$6, a bowl of soup $4, stews $8, veggies & starches $4, featured entrees $9-$11, and pastas and tandoor skewers $8. Even if you decide to order bread ($2) with extra virgin olive oil ($1) and salt (50 cents to $1 each). you have to choose between 5 bread selections, 8 olive oils, 18 basic salts, and 6 premium salts. Thankfully, the staff are helpful, and we ordered the Jamaican Choco Escovitch with a Pearl Bakery assortment, olive oil, and a couple salts to start.

The name, Choco Escovitch, is just so much fun to say, I had to order it. It was one of those salads, like the Singing Pig Greens at Toro Bravo, that really elevates your expectations of what a salad can be. The greens in question included herbs, and were lightly dressed with a creamy dressing made from angostura bitters (but not bitter at all). Thin slices of merlatan squash, with a taste and texture similar to granny smith apples or jimaca, were fanned over the greens, with a tiny edible pansy on top. And on top of that—genius!—what appeared to be tempuraed cucumbers. Yum! The flavors were so bright, flavorful, slightly floral, and dare I say, dynamic.

The next to arrive was our selection of breads with olive oil and salt. This is such a simple thing, and generally so pedestrian. But it was a revelation to try the various breads with the oil, with the oil and salt, with the oil and the other salt. One salt was slightly piquant and showy, the other more subtle and slightly smokey.

The shot of soup is just that—a shot glass full of soup. In our case, it was a chilled creamy french lettuce & chervil soup with lemon, which was so rich and creamy that I was glad to only have a shot -- but again, so flavorful. So yummy.

The Nutshell Jamaican barbeque includes four of the starches (peas & rice, aka the traditional Jamaican red beans and rice; crispy shredded yucca pancakes; Jamaican cornmeal fritters that look just like cheddar puffed cheese balls; and, an orange stuffed with yam, coconut, and mace), house made jerk, fried okra, and grilled eggplant and lilies, as well as a shot of the Marley family drink.

The peas and rice were redolent of coconut, fresh coconut, and the yam had the fruitiness of habanero without the heat. The grilled onions were delicious and sweet, the okra crispy and not at all slimey. The only just okay part of the meal was the eggplant which was grilled, not at all bitter, just not a lot of flavor. But combined with the rest, it was delightful.

My neighbor had raved about Karen's raw living lasagna, and so that's what I ordered.
The lasagna contains no pasta, just a stack of vegetables and sauces. The heirloom tomatoes are easily the best tomatoes I've eaten this year, the sort that need nothing but a shake of salt and pepper (though these wanted for nothing). There were also marinated mushrooms and very thin slices of zucchini, separating the layers of pinon ricotta, pistachio pesto, sun dried tomatoes.

The pesto and tomato sauces along with the creamy pine nut ricotta say lasagna, but everything element of the dish just sang. Beautiful, again, and wonderful balance of flavors. I was really glad they had been so generous with the bread so I could mop up that extra sauce.

Our bill, with two beers, was $33, and walking out, we were both stuffed. I can't wait to go back.

Making food taste good using dairy and meat really isn't that hard. But someone who can do that just with vegan ingredients is a real master. We finally have fine-dining vegan food in Portland, and it's really good. This is vegan food that really anyone could love... and will, I bet.

Update:: The menu has been simplified. But the service in our last couple visits has really gone downhill. We've had servers who seem annoyed that they have to take our orders, servers who expect us to eat soup with our hands, and no sort of concern that we might not be enjoying our meals. We've had naive servers who appeared to have never tried the foods in question. I am hoping these are blips. Sean, Tabla guys, please make the service match the incredible food!