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| AMY'S ON THE BAY:
Casually elegant, local and fresh
By Alison Pride PDF
Just steps away from the Port Orchard waterfront walk and, in season, the Port Orchard Farmers Market, Amy's on the Bay is a restaurant in the hub of the downtown business district.
This suits owners Grant Matsuno and Amy Igloi-Matsuno just fine. "We like how we're in the middle of things," Grant says. The couple have been very active in the local business community since they bought the restaurant, formerly JJ's on the Bay, two years ago.
Besides, Grant likes to walk to the farmers market to see what's fresh, local and in season that he might incorporate into his ever-evolving menu.
"There's so much good food out there," Grant says. "I'm constantly going through different flavors and combinations."
Grant's and Amy's lives first intersected at an Anthony's restaurant in Seattle. She was waiting tables downstairs; he was cooking on the line upstairs. Fortunately, a mutual friend introduced them.
"When we came together, I think our potential exponentially increased," Amy says. "We bring out the best in each other."
"Together we are much greater than the sum of our parts," Grant says, smiling.
As an illustration, consider that in their five years of "serious dating" before their marriage in August 2007 (at Amy's on the Bay, of course), Amy went to school to get her business degree, Grant worked his way up to sous chef at Anthony's, and the couple bought two homes together. Then the opportunity came along to buy the restaurant overlooking the water on Sinclair Inlet in Port Orchard.
To all appearances, their individual skills and interests mesh well in their business partnership. Amy manages the front of the restaurant and does all the accounting and bookkeeping. Grant runs the kitchen, with delicious results.
The menu, which Grant characterizes as "good, honest gourmet," relies heavily on local and fresh ingredients whenever possible.
"One of the main things when it comes to good food is, start with a good product," he says. "We have so much available to us in the Pacific Northwest. We try to keep it simple so the food comes through."
They also try to stay sensitive to their local customer base, balancing their commitment to the freshest and best possible ingredients with affordability, and their desire to innovate with what the public wants.
A perusal of the menu, for instance, offers up several well-loved staples of the region, but with occasional twists. There are the regular cod and halibut fish and chips, but also salmon, American gulf prawns and red snapper paired with Amy's made-from-scratch fries.
Seven out of nine appetizers feature seafood, with offerings like Dungeness crab cakes with sweet chili guava sauce and orange saffron beurre blanc, Case Inlet manila clams in a classic white wine butter broth or a basil pesto broth, and Ahi tuna poki with cucumber, wonton crisp and wasabi aioli.
Meat lovers need not go hungry: Amy's serves a variety of dishes featuring chicken, lamb and all-natural, hormone-free Angus beef.
The kitchen at Amy's is open to the restaurant, and the visibility this offers works both ways. Customers can watch Grant and his sous chef on the line, but those in the kitchen can look out and see what's going on in the dining room as well.
"Grant and the sous chef want to see customers take that first bite and watch their faces light up," Amy says. "That's the single moment that makes everything we do worth it."
It's natural for Amy and Grant to treat customers like family and to encourage them to stick around for a while. Gathering around a meal has always been important to both their families, and they believe that their customers, tired of the 30-minute lunch, are increasingly looking for "that whole dining experience."
"All over the world, there's passion about food," says Amy, who shares another important similarity with her husband-both were born in Korea and adopted, and both ended up being raised in multicultural households. "I wish Americans treasured that time at the table more."
And while Grant's family is mostly in Oahu, Amy's is spread out locally and gets together every Saturday afternoon at the restaurant, continuing their family tradition of sitting down to at least one meal a week together.
It's no surprise, then, that when both are asked about their favorite meals, their answers reflect this time-tested recipe of food and fellowship.
"The perfect meal is definitely one that's shared," Grant says. "Beyond that it could be a few slices of bread and cold cuts while you're sitting on top of Mount Rainier. It could be waterfront dining with a beautiful meal. It could be something as simple as sharing mac and cheese with your niece and nephew. Good food is everywhere."
And Amy, who admits to a craving for good Korean barbecue beef and her dad's Hungarian home cooking ("It's almost like you're eating happiness," she says), echoes her husband's thoughts, "A perfect meal is with the company I keep."
"Friends are afraid to cook for Grant, and they shouldn't be," Amy says.
Grant agrees. "There's that dish inside you that you do really, really well. Don't be afraid. What's more important is the sharing of the moment and the experience."
Farmers market lunch
"As a chef and all-around food enthusiast, nothing heralds the start summer like the opening of local farmers markets," says Amy's on the Bay chef Grant Matsuno. Here, he offers his suggestions for the perfect "al fresco summer market lunch" using ingredients from the Port Orchard Farmers Market.
Grilled caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, basil oil and balsamic vinegar
This classic Italian recipe works nicely as an outdoor summer salad. Beefsteak tomatoes and red onion are used in this recipe, but other tomato varietals and green or sweet onions can be substituted.
3 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced about ¾-inch thick
2 large red onions, sliced ½-inch thick
1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
8 ounces fresh basil
1 ½ cups extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
To make the basil oil, place basil and olive oil in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Strain oil through a fine mesh sieve and store in a squeeze bottle or mason jar.
Drizzle tomato and onion slices with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place on grill over medium-high heat. Grill for approximately two minutes, then flip over. Top tomatoes with mozzarella slices and grill for an additional two minutes, until onions are sweated and starting to char on edges, tomatoes are warm throughout and mozzarella is melted. Place on platter, alternating onion and tomato slices. Drizzle with basil oil and balsamic vinegar and garnish with fresh basil.
Steamed Case Inlet clams with spicy andouille sausage
This recipe showcases Case Inlet clams from the Tom Farmer Oyster Company. "The contrasting spiciness of the andouille sausage really brings out the sweetness of Tom's clams," Grant says.
2 pounds fresh clams, rinsed
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup diced onion
2 links andouille sausage, cut into ½-inch rounds
8 ounces butter (four large pats)
1 cup white wine (chardonnay or sauvignon blanc)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 heavy-duty roasting pan
Place the roasting pan on the grill over medium-high heat. Pour in olive oil and allow to heat. Add minced garlic, diced onion and andouille sausage and stir until garlic, onion and sausage just begin to brown. Add clams, white wine and butter. Cover with a piece of foil with a few holes
poked through to allow steam to escape. Simmer until clams open, discarding any that do not. Transfer to a large bowl and garnish with lemon wedges and fresh parsley.
Accompany your meal with grilled baguette slices or foccacia bread from Morningside Bakery and a bottle of wine from Puget Sound Wine Cellar. Grant suggest pairing this meal with a bottle of Nederburg Lyric, a blend of sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc and chardonnay grapes with a crisp citrus finish.
Originally appeared in WestSound Home & Garden, Spring 2008
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