The Lowdown
Brought to You by Ekone Tinned Seafood
Welcome to The Lowdown, an expanded edition of what I’ve been drinking, eating, reading, writing, watching, and listening to. This paid subscriber exclusive is sent out on select Fridays.
On today’s The Lowdown…
Drinks and Snacks at Bar Louise
Tanti Auguri, Faccia Brutto Spirits!
Rainbow Cookie Sheet Cake
Al Pastor Yaki Tacos from Superbueno
And more!
Today’s LAST CALL dispatch is free to all readers thanks to the generous support of Ekone Tinned Seafood.
As one of the longest-standing shellfish farms to cultivate Washington states tidelines, Taylor Shellfish’s tinned seafood brand Ekone has perfected the craft of harvesting, smoking, and hand-packing seafood through their family-run smokehouse and cannery where they’ve fostered their tide-to-tin tradition for decades.
Located in Bay Center, Washington on Willapa Bay, Ekone Tinned Seafood farms their own shellfish with their parent company Taylor Shellfish Farms in Washington’s tidelands, an environment and ecosystem that produces clean, nutrient-rich seafood. From tide-to-tin they own the entire process, making their products truly traceable. Ekone’s wild-caught, sustainable fish comes from local tribes and Northwest fishermen. After the fish are sliced and the shellfish is hand-shucked, it’s then brined in select seasonings before being gently smoked over a custom blend of hardwood chips that helps spotlight their natural flavors. Each tin is then hand-packed with a touch of oil.
One of the last few independent canneries left in the U.S., Ekone was founded in 1980 by shellfish farmers Nick and Joanne Jambor, and is now part of the Taylor Shellfish family, who carry on the Jambor’s recipes and smoking techniques they perfected for decades.
You can experience Ekone in individual tins and sampler sets featuring a variety of hand-packed, smoked seafood, including Oysters (including Habanero and Lemon Pepper), Mussels, Wild Octopus, Albacore Tuna (also flavored with Lemon), and Coho Salmon.
Whichever one you choose, the seafood can be enjoyed straight from the tin as a convenient snack or featured in a composed dish like salads, dips, sandwiches, and pastas. I always keep some key components in my pantry and refrigerator for easy aperitivo at home and having a few tins of Ekone on my shelf helps elevate the occasion with an element of Pacific Northwest-inspired “seacuterie”
For a recent aperitivo get-together I stirred up a round of White Negroni Sbagliatos, a signature drink from Brooklyn’s The Long Island Bar composed of equal parts Suze or Aveze and bianco vermouth topped with Prosecco and garnished with a long cucumber slice and orange twist.
A tin of Ekone Smoked Oysters took center stage on the platter, served with lemon wedges and cornichons. There was a salted, cultured butter to spread on toasted crostini or Triscuits—the crisp texture offered a pleasant contrast and crunch to the creamy butter and plump, smoked oyster.
The rest of the aperitivo was rounded out with potato chips (you can’t have aperitivo without chips), Castelvetrano olives, and pickled artichokes, along with thick slices of salami, sliced cucumbers, and cubes of sharp cheddar cheese from Wisconsin.
Whether as a convenient snack, a light aperitivo style dinner, or as a key component in more composed dish, with a few tins of Ekone seafood in your pantry you’ll have endless opportunities.
Drinking
Pomponella (Bar Louise)
On Tuesday, Dan Romero (one of the very first people I met and befriended when I moved to Brooklyn in 2010) invited me to a preview of Bar Louise, where he is a partner and Director of Operations with founder Allison Arevalo, who opened Park Slope’s popular Italian cafe Pasta Louise in 2020.
A pink-tiled, curved marble bar that seats 10 dominates the bright, front room where the sun spills through the open windows and bounces off the large mirror hanging on a background of lush floral wallpaper. The cozy back room is a bit moodier with colorful flowers hanging from the ceiling alongside ornate crystal lamps which cast a warm glow on the dark chocolate-colored wooden chairs and tables and two British racing green-colored banquettes (a back patio will eventually open in the summer). They’ll soon be launching a daily happy hour from 3:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
All of the cocktails are named after actual rose varieties found at the nearby Brooklyn Botanical Garden. I started with the Pomponella, a bright and bubbly spritz made with Lambrusco, Amaro Nonino, orange bitters, and soda, followed by the Party Dress, a Cosmopolitan variation composed of vodka, elderflower liqueur, strawberries, lychee, and lemon, rimmed with Himalayan pink salt. I couldn’t decide between the Ring of Fire—heir take on a Manhattan with bourbon, rhum Agricole, Antica Torino Rosso vermouth, Antica Torino Chinato, and Angostura bitters—or the Great Western an Old-Fashioned made with bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, and mole bitters so I tried both side by side (the Ring of Fire won out).