Before the Corson Building was hosting supper clubs, chef Matt Dillon started out small with a strip-mall space in Eastlake, and with this first venture he has established himself as a master of local-seasonal cooking.
The space in the Melrose Market building feels like a greenhouse: sunlight streams in through tall windows bouncing off white accents, and mostly glass partitions separate the restaurant from the rest of the open-air market. They’ve kept the entire operation small, which means getting a table of your own, or a seat at the communal farm table, can be difficult. But they’ve installed a counterbalance: Bar Ferdinand, a bar/wine shop/waiting area across the hall from the dining room. If you need to wait, at least you can do it comfortably. The wine list is lovely, with an Old-World focus—no fruit bombs here.
This is a place to share plates. A typical meal for two will require about four of them, which makes Sitka a little pricey. Huge, plump mussels might be topped with crispy fennel and served on a bed of pickled cucumbers in an almost meaty berry sauce. Or the kitchen might play it straighter with house-smoked salmon lox—here, crème fraiche and gooseberries stand in for cream cheese and lemon juice.
Occasionally something won’t come together, but with ingredients this good, even the disjointed parts of a pepper, peach, and crispy pork salad are enjoyable on their own.
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