Lamb, fish and wines show Salt Exchange's potential

A lot that's been written about the Salt Exchange praises its quietude and its perfect small plates, like little foodie artworks. So what can I conclude about the fact that the night I ate there, the noise level made it necessary to shout, and there were several so-so plates of food along with two delicious entrees and one outright flop?

It might have been an off night. It's also possible that during the wait to let the restaurant perfect its chops before reviewing it, the Salt Exchange became popular. Now, when the folks who like small portions have found the spot, the owners must work out new challenges, like serving a party of 16.

Savory lamb and crisp-skinned striped bass offered certain satisfaction, but an encounter with a piece of meat too tough and coarse to swallow was hard to forget. In those unforgiving small plates, each a minimalist white-china canvas, it's impossible to overlook anything.

The codfish balls are called cromesquis ($5), a French word about a method of preparation named after a Polish chef, according to Chef Jacob Jasinski. Served with red bell pepper slow-cooked in olive oil and with dots of lemon aioli, the three small, crisp and crunchy balls of smooth fish suffered from being a little dry inside.

Crisp barbajuans ($5), also in the small bites section of the menu, are "essentially Monaco's answer to an empanada," Jasinski said. The pastry was a little dry and not that oily, flaky kind that wrap up the nice empanadas I've had elsewhere. A filling of pork and chantarelles also seemed a little dry, although it was nicely spiced.

A half glass, or 2 ounces, of Theo Minges Riesling 2007 ($4.50) from Germany perked things up with its complex sweetness, its lovely shade of yellow and deft citrusy honey-like taste. Domaine Lalande Sauvignon Blanc 2005 ($8 for a full glass), a French wine from the Cotes de Gascogne, was fragrant and thirst-quenching.

Indeed, the wine list at the Salt Exchange provided the most interesting and engaging wines I have drunk in a long time. The 2006 Montevina Terra D'Oro Zinfandel ($8) from California's Amador County presented a rich bouquet of dark dried fruit and plums, and tasted rich and full even though it was light bodied. Fleur Petite Syrah 2006 ($8) held a hint of prunes in its dark ruby depths.

A dessert wine, Elderton Botrytis Semillon 2007 ($12), from Riverina, Australia, was served in a small, 2-ounce glass, and held perfect syrupy sweetness tempered by brilliant acidity. And Edmeades Alden Vineyard Late Harvest Zinfandel ($9) from Mendicino County, Calif., was "ridiculously good," as the poised, informative server described it.

The Salt Exchange offers a few larger entrees now, so a diner with a large appetite could be perfectly content, for instance, with an entre-size chicken breast ($19, or $11 for a small plate), served with a glazed drumstick, corn polenta and Swiss chard. But on my visit, I sampled four small entrees.

Tomato risotto ($11) sat in three pools, each under a slice of green tomato crunchy with almond crust. One little braised onion and two cherry tomatoes, each one slightly cooked, were swathed in duck prosciutto, providing a great burst of flavor in the otherwise rather plain plate.

Pineland Farms was the source for the tough shoulder steak, also known as a flat iron steak, that I couldn't swallow. But tender, buttery chanterelles on the plate and little carved football-shaped potatoes were good.

When I asked whether the servers ask how the customer prefers the meat cooked, Jaskinski said, "Beef or lamb is best enjoyed medium rare. We typically don't ask how they would like it cooked initially."

Perhaps customers of the Salt Exchange don't mind, but this seems high-handed to me. Jaskinski said the servers tell the customers the meat will be medium rare.

Better by far – a real hit – was the striped bass, a small oblong of fillet with a crunchy, savory bit of skin and underneath, two fiery little green roulette peppers stuffed with shrimp and something creamy. Tangy-sweet red onion compote was the perfect complement for that hot pepper, and green onion puree chimed in with sharp green notes.

Best of all was spice-rubbed lamb, a really gamey, flavorful chunk of loin on a Frenched or stripped bone served with smooth eggplant puree and some fat, succulent fresh beans.

Favas and fresh chickpeas were on the plate earlier this summer, and fresh cranberry beans, dragon's tongue beans and yellow wax beans are on the plate in mid-September. Chewy, strongly flavored lamb sweetbreads sauted in butter upped the pleasures of this small plate.

For dessert, we shared the Marconi almond cake ($9). The small cylinder of dense, golden cake was almost perfect – another couple of minutes of cooking would have made it so. White chocolate mousse sat in an egg-shaped lozenge on top, adding richness, and truffled honeycomb full of chewy wax and infused with a bit of white truffle oil, according to Jasinski, made more fine accompaniments. But the pickled cherries, just three or four slices of one little fruit, were too sour to make sense.

N.L. English is a Portland freelance writer and the author of "Chow Maine: The Best Restaurants, Cafes, Lobster Shacks and Markets on the Coast." Visit English's Web site, www.chowmaineguide.com.

The Salt Exchange