Versus: Morel Dilemma

The Dish

The earthy flavor and spongy texture of a morel mushroom only add to its allure. These mushrooms are only available a few weeks each spring, becoming more elusive as the weather warms. These distinct mushrooms aren't easy to find, either. They congregate near trauma sites in the forest where floods, logging, fires, etc. have occurred. Unless you're willing to pay a small fortune for these beauties at your local market, you might want to take in the flavor of the season by letting someone else cook them for you. We found similar morel dishes at two local restaurants that both get their morels from the same source: Seattle's own mushroom man, Jeremy Faber of Foraged & Found Edibles. But which place did the best job of creating a dish that showcases morels in all their earthy glory?

A spruced-up version of morels on toast.

​The Rivals

Sitka & Spruce
1531 Melrose Ave. E. #6, 324-0662
These morels are mixed with fresh peas, garden sorrel and a handful of fragrant herbs (we detected parsley, rosemary and maybe some caraway), then tossed with a sauce made from chicken stock and butter before being laid to rest on a piece of toast and topped with a Stokesberry Farms chicken egg and sea salt. The result is a decadent and vibrant dish ($14) that is both fork-and-knife and finger-food friendly. Chef Matt Dillon's morel dish is so popular, the kitchen has been known to run out of eggs for late-night orders.

Almost as rustic as eating them straight from the forest floor.

​Emmer & Rye
1825 Queen Anne Ave. N., 282-0680
Chef Seth Caswell's version of morel toast is not as fancy as Sitka's, but it is truer to the flavor of the forest for the same price. The dish is composed of two slices of toast topped with a generous amount of morels and three huge chunks of Estrella's Brewleggio cheese--much like Taleggio, but washed with Naughty Nellie Ale from Pike Brewing. The simple preparation creates a rustic and robust woody flavor that makes you wonder if chef Caswell is picking the morels himself seconds before executing this appetizer. Instead of masking the earthy tones of the morels, the cheese does a nice job of complementing both the flavor and the meaty texture of the mushrooms, while adding a yeasty component from the beer-wash. This dish isn't exactly a bargain at $14, but you can order a single piece of toast for $8.

The Champ

Since this challenge is about finding the dish that best highlights the morel, we give this Versus crown to Emmer & Rye, which let the morels shine by casting them in the lead role of a toast and cheese show. Chef Caswell did what so many other chefs do not: He let a simple dish just be without overwhelming its delicate flavors. Sitka & Spruce, however, won us over with their morel creation, which we found intricate, refined, balanced and highly enjoyable. We'll certainly go back for both. Dilemma solved.