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By the Sea

First Bite: Star Fish

Cherry Pie Hospitality's latest in the Heights focuses on seafood and martinis.

By Alice Levitt May 11, 2017

Let's get this out of the way—the French fries, deep-fried in clarified butter, are the missing link between hash browns and movie theater popcorn. They come with a few different dishes, but no matter what you order, get them, too. Fun fact: They're called Kennebec Butter Fries, but are not made with Kennebec potatoes.

Photography by Alice Levitt

The Lady Snow Pea earns its name not just with its garnish, but house-made snow pea soda, combined with white ginger gin and blanc vermouth. The two glasses at right are actually one drink, Leslie's Oyster Shell Martini. The $11 extra-dirty sipper is too big to be contained in one martini glass. A seawater tincture brings the flavor of the ocean to Aylesbury Duck vodka and oyster shell dry vermouth.

Photography by Alice Levitt

Teetotalers aren't overlooked, either. There's an old-fashioned soda shop-style pineapple phosphate as well as this cracked-ice-filled glass of blueberry lemonade.

Photography by Alice Levitt

Fried flounder strips, served with sauce gribiche, are fish sticks for grown ups—or discerning kids.

Photography by Alice Levitt

Ellis calls this steak tartare an American version of the dish, but with its coating of fried shallots and accompanying baguette, it strikes us as somewhat Vietnamese. But we can't argue with Ellis' recommendation of using it as a dip for the butter fries.

Photography by Alice Levitt

The pepper gravlax is coated with dill and lightly smoked, ending in a brighter result than your typical plate of lox.

By Alice Levitt

These puffy tacos are made from blue corn milled specifically for Star Fish. Inside is buttered lobster, pepper jack cheese, avocado salsa, lettuce, tomato and micro cilantro.

Photography by Julie Soefer

Ever wished your favorite Chinese spare ribs were made with big, juicy hunks of pork? Meet the sesame-glazed spare ribs. The appetizer is big enough for a meal or for sharing, and is accompanied with pickled veggies.

By Alice Levitt

It's important to Mills to have a different take on the Caesar salad at each restaurant. This whole-leaf version is buried in lacy shavings of Parmesan and buttery brioche croutons.

By Alice Levitt

Lee's Salad comprises chopped greens, hard-boiled egg, toasted almond and cubes of Cabot cheddar in bacon vinaigrette.

Photography by Alice Levitt

The Beach Blonde, one of two tiki drinks on the menu, combines Plantation O.F.T.D. rum, Hamilton Jamaican Gold rum, macadamia cordial, banana, coconut cream, pineapple, lime and angostura bitters.

By Alice Levitt

This gin-and-tonic, the Celtic Kavanagh, is tiki-sized itself. It's delicately fruity thanks to green apple peel Caorunn Gin, but gets its herbaceous flavors from elderflower tonic and torched rosemary.

By Alice Levitt

Can't decide between gnocchi and clam chowder? No problem! It's an unlikely but satisfying combination, an uncommonly hearty cream sauce bolstered with house pancetta. It's topped with celery leaf salad.

By Alice Levitt

Mills uses New Zealand Ōra King salmon for its sustainability and exceptionally well-integrated fat. This crisp fish is served over horseradish whipped potatoes with tangy French sauce ravigote.

By Alice Levitt

The house burger blend is on the fatty side—75:25—and uses brisket, short rib and chuck. The patty arrives on a bun baked for Star Fish by Slow Dough, topped with spicy house mustard. And yes, it comes with those fries.

By Alice Levitt

There is no set dessert menu yet, as sweets are in experimental phases. They're all made by Susan Molzan of Cherry Pie bakery Petite Sweets. This cheesecake, topped with decadent flourless chocolate, can convert even a cheesecake hater.

By Alice Levitt

White cake and almond-flavored cream fill the Strawberry Bomb, basically a lighter, inside-out strawberry shortcake.

By Alice Levitt

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Cherry Pie Hospitality's pantheon of restaurants tends to lean toward the heavy. There's the sugar rush of Lee's Fried Chicken & Donuts and Petite Sweets, the carb-load of Pi Pizza and the all-around heft of the cuisine at State Fare. Lighter eaters will breathe a sigh of relief, then, that the group's latest restaurant, Star Fish, opened late last month with a seafood-focused menu that can accommodate all appetites.

A 300-gallon freshwater aquarium greets guests at 191 Heights Boulevard, the space formerly home to Bradley's Fine Diner and now redesigned by partner Lee Ellis and Design Hound, on the opposite end of the same shopping center as Pi Pizza. The back wall is dominated by a raw bar, which turns out freshly shucked oysters (we like ours with the Meyer lemon pesto), seafood cocktails and massive chilled platters. Oysters, by the way, are also available fried, grilled or smoked.

Executive chef Armando Ramirez and operating partner Jim Mills have concocted a seafood-centric menu that doesn't leave landlubbers hungry. Cherry Pie beverage director Laurie Harvey has applied her usual inventiveness to not only a deep, martini-focused cocktail menu, but also a wine list that includes no fewer than 23 sparkling varieties. Click through these photos to see more.

 

Filed under
Star Fish, Cherry Pie Hospitality, Lee Ellis, Heights, First Bite
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