Last weekend, we visited our son who lives on Orcas Island, and we told him to pick a restaurant to celebrate his 26th birthday. Hogstone was new to him, but he'd heard good things about it. We called for a reservation, and good thing, too, because most of the restaurant was booked for a large wedding party. With no tables available, we were seated at the bar, which our booking person said would be cool and was her favorite seat in the house. She was right! What a treat to be able to watch the Hogstone artisans prepare their delectables. (Full disclosure: 90 minutes of barstool seating was murder. But worth it.)
With our server's gracious guidance, we decided to order three small plates and two pizzas to share, and each had a glass of (excellent) wine. Small plate #1 was six (very local, from the bay only a few blocks away) oysters with a roasted onion granita. (A+) Small plate #2 was a small pork chop with an apple "jam" - I'm picky about my pork (no factory pigs need apply) and this was A+. Small plate #3: a potato creme/froth, with a sous vide coddled egg yolk, wild greens, and garnished with salmon eggs. I'm a big sushi/sashima fan, but I generally don't care for the fishiness of fish eggs...BUT these weren't fishy at all. This dish was wonderful. Beyond wonderful. Fabulous. A++
Then the pizzas arrived. The best margharita (tomato sauce, goat cheese base) any of us has ever tasted, with a carmelized, nutty flavor. (A++) The other pizza was a melange of toppings, including crispy cubes of pork fat. (A+) (Alert to fat demonizers; this is not your restaurant.) These are thin-crust pizzas, cooked in a wood-fired oven so the crust does have charred spots. Another reviewer noted that as a negative, but IMO, it makes the crust better.
Could we stop there? No, we could not. We shared a creme flan-ish dessert with quince and some other ingredients I can't recall, and it was A+. AND, the server having overheard us mention my son's birthday, she comped him a small ice cream dessert. This item wasn't my favorite, but the attentive gesture was much appreciated.
The menu is hyper-local and hyper-seasonal, so it is quite likely that most of the items I've described won't be available when you visit. Lo siento! I'd confidently return, though, because I'm sure whatever was on offer would be just as good.
Now, to be fair, here are some issues to consider: This restaurant is VERY small. Even without a boisterous wedding party, it is going to be noisy when it gets busy. Likewise, since everything is so freshly prepared, there will be a wait for your food. (We were happy since we had the entertainment of watching the kitchen, but it might have been a drag sitting at a table, since there was too much noise to converse.)
Before tip, our bill came to $50 per person. For over-the-top food and presentation, plus wine and dessert, I call that very fair. For a couple going out for nice evening meal of wine and small plate each, plus a pizza to share, it would be a lot less. read more