It’s garnished with chili oil and sea buckthorn, and each bite features layers of flavor and texture. The bread is made with nigella seeds and burnt leeks and arrives topped with smoked lion’s mane mushrooms, hawthorn cream and brunost cheese, a Norwegian whey cheese that’s creamy and the color of light caramel. Definitely don’t skip the homemade Sami bread ($14), an impressive and creative starter that features the puffy round bread named for the indigenous group inhabiting portions of Norway, Finland, Sweden and parts of Russia. Breadhouse Bakes’ pan seeded and round rye breads served with a whipped fish roe butter ($7) is a nice accompaniment to some of the following dishes. There’s no bread service, but a plate of local bakery Jamison B. The pieces of fish are topped with thin wisps of crispy-fried lotus root chips and dusted in a bright crimson dried cranberry powder - a simple and beautiful start to a meal here. In fact, a large portion of the menu does the opposite, focusing instead on one set of ingredients that have proved to play well together.Ī dish like the hamachi crudo ($16) features thick slices of the silky fish swimming in a tangy citrus and buttermilk sauce, flavored with Sichuan peppercorns, orange and dill oil. Not every dish includes examples of both cuisines. Star anise, cardamom, ginger, fennel, aquavit, dill, Sichuan peppercorns - there are repeat performances from these throughout the menu and, for the most part, they complement each other well. While the constraints here mean that the Lingr menu won’t appeal to everyone, the flavors and ingredients emblematic of both cuisines pair remarkably well together. This isn’t the popular tactic where chefs paint with broad strokes, pulling an ingredient from several cuisines and a concept from another while trying to make the group harmonize. I hesitate to call his first solo venture a fusion concept because, unlike so many other globetrotting spots that borrow from a hodgepodge of cuisines, this one has a pretty strict roadmap. Petersburg’s Stillwaters Tavern and BellaBrava, a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef Seattle and spent time working in Europe and Washington, D.C.
![lingr st petersburg lingr st petersburg](https://lingrrestaurant.com/portals/lingr/images/gallery/jj25.jpg)
Jew, 43, was previously the chef at downtown St.
![lingr st petersburg lingr st petersburg](http://lingrrestaurant.com/portals/lingr/images/restaurant_top03.jpg)
It’s an homage to Jew’s background and upbringing - his mother is Norwegian and his father is Chinese - peppered with some of the culinary chops and techniques he’s honed throughout his career.
![lingr st petersburg lingr st petersburg](https://lingrrestaurant.com/portals/lingr/images/r2.jpg)
The shtick here is Norwegian and Cantonese, or more broadly, a Nordic-inspired restaurant with Asian influence.