Get Fresh

Issue: What is the best place to enjoy the bounty of the season?

Rule: The markets are still full of late season corn and heirloom tomatoes- two of my favorite things and so all I want to do is be able to eat at a place where I can order that for dinner. I want to be able to enjoy a local seasonal meal that really shows off the food that looks so good every time I pass it at the market.

Application: Get Fresh used to be an interesting hybrid take out place with huge refrigerators that housed frozen meals as well as components for dinner that you could make yourself. They also had soups and sodas and cooking equipment. Some of the cooking equipment still remains as well as a few necessities including Stumptown Coffee, assorted beans and olive oils.
But moving on the to the meal, it really was the Best Meal I have had in months. Literally. I know, I know, I have not been posting that much since I have been going to a gagillion weddings and have not had much time to go out to eat. But still, I stand by this meal as one of the best in a long time. We started with two Vermont cheeses and Sullivan's bread with delicious lemony house-cured olives.
The rest of the menu is divided into awesome price fix meals and a small selection of a la carte entrees. However the best part is the vegetarian meal which is basically whatever looks amazing in the kitchen which means that each meal is different for each person that ordered it. And judging from the tables near by, it looks like many people order it. My vegetarian meal featured an amazing array of different vegetarian food across many ethnic cuisines. The hands-down best part was an amazing tamale that was contributed by the chef's mother. Besides the awesome purple tamale there was a tasty potato mash, house-made potato chips, wonderfully spiced tomato rice with corn and an awesome corn soup. The soup was light with pickled watermelons (who knew!) and a refreshing bit of cucumber. Corn soup can so often get bogged down with excessive heavy cream but this left me feeling satisfied and not gross.
Ryan ordered from the price fix menu and received scallops that were "cooked perfectly". The corn soup was his middle course as well- big hit. His entree was a pork belly with heirloom beans, potato puree and chorizo. There was a lot going on but it all balanced out wonderfully. Pork belly, along with roasted chicken are two consistent indicators of what any kitchen is capable of. Both meals could easily be too dry or not crispy enough. Not a problem here.
Oh, bonus- Get Fresh is currently BYOB. The staff directs you to local wine stores and is happy to keep it cool while you eat.

Conclusion: I want to go back right now. I want to request the tamale the next time I get the vegetarian plate and be pleasantly surprised by the rest of the meal. I keep thinking and dreaming about this place. I guess I will have to go back. ASAP.