Dish In, Dish Out

I strolled into Dish all alone around 1:30 pm, intending to miss the lunch crowd and expecting to find a seat along the counter bordering the barista and open-kitchen area. There were a handful of diners lingering, though, so I took a seat by the window in the spacious dining area decorated in bright walls and oversized artwork. My usual review partner, Mr. Meat-and-Potatoes, had a conflicting tee-time, leaving me to wonder if Dish was the kind of place where a single diner would feel at home. It was.

Even though I had arrived about a half-hour before they closed lunch service at 2 pm — and the staff was busily preparing for the 5 pm dinner crowd — my late arrival didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. In fact, barista/manager Uriah DuPerault mentioned that Dish was considering staying open during that three-hour gap, perhaps with a limited plate offering or appetizers. Sure enough, other diners drifted into the increasingly popular place on Highway 2 behind me.

Dish serves breakfast until 2 pm, but having already had an excellent breakfast there when the place first opened — crawfish etoufée Benedict with home fries ($10) — I opted to try lunch. After a long morning of working in the yard, a light meal sounded appealing. That meant saying no to the curry chicken pot pie ($9); the Rachel, with its warmed turkey, melted Fontina cheese and slaw ($8.45); and the BBQ pulled-pork sandwich with raspberry chipotle ($10). But the seared ahi tuna sandwich sounded just right: blackened tuna on grilled French bread with shredded lettuce, ginger-cilantro relish and a wasabi mayo ($12).

The sandwich arrived with crispy fries. (I could have ordered salad instead.) The ahi was faintly blackened on one side; its center was medium-rare pink. The relish, which included garlic, jalapeño and basil, balanced the fish well and gave the sandwich moistness and flavor. It was, however, a bit salty for my taste. (The adjacent fries had a different saltiness, kosher salt perhaps, which was the right amount.) The wasabi mayo also added moistness, but not much flavor. An alternative might have been sweet heirloom tomato or some pineapple bits.

From the wine list, the Pend d’Oreille Chardonnay ($22, bottle), with apple and honeydew flavors, would have gone well with this sandwich, or perhaps the Van Duzer Pinot Gris ($7, glass; $22, bottle), with its hints of peach, pineapple and grapefruit.

Instead, I had an iced latte expertly prepared by DuPerault, whose nearly 20 years of prior experience include owning his own coffee shop. Dish uses Doma organic, fair-trade coffee, which for me means a heartier roast with a bit of an edge to it.

When Dish first opened in February, they focused on breakfast and lunch, but now they have recently begun serving dinner — both dine-in and carry-out — and I wanted to give it a try. Their drive-through menu gives you a few options, but with a call ahead, you can order anything off the regular menu, boxed up to go.

I like ordering restaurant meals that I can’t or won’t make at home. Choices like the rotisserie chicken ($14) fall into the former category (who has their own rotisserie?), while the paella ($17) — Arborio rice infused with saffron and simmered with shrimp, clams, mussels, chicken and spicy Andouille sausage — falls into the latter. On this day, their roasted garlic and cappicola lasagna ($14) sounded like just the ticket to take home.

The lasagna was accompanied by several spears of crisp, fresh-cooked asparagus, all of it in a recycled/recyclable to-go box. The pasta was firm with the right proportions of sauce, cheese and chunks of mushroom. The chunky marinara was slightly sweet, which Chef Gabe Cruz attributes to fennel. The cappicola ham added good texture and flavor, neither overpowering nor salty. All combined, the lasagna had the right balance of flavors, and while I might have expected a slightly larger portion, the meal itself would make a nice change of pace for dining in or take-out.

For those dining in, Dish’s wine list (about three dozen bottle choices; 10 by the glass) includes helpful descriptions, designed to help remove the fear factor from ordering wines. The Pend d’Oreille Cabernet Franc ($30), for example, has “powerful highlights of deep berry and white pepper flavors.” That richness would have appealed to me as a better accompaniment to my slightly sweet lasagna than a wine like the Yakima Valley Two Mountain Merlot ($26), with its “aromas of caramelized banana and vanilla, and toasty butterscotch and overripe pear with a lingering finish.”

I appreciate the forethought owners Gary and Laura Peitz have put into the wine list, as well as the restaurant in general. With its welcoming atmosphere, excellent service, extensive wine list and interesting assortment of menu options, Dish is a place I’ll happily visit again.

Dish, 1319 Hwy. 2, Suite A, Sandpoint, Idaho, is open daily 7 am-2 pm (drive-through opens at 6 am), and for dinner from 5 pm to close. Visit www.sandpointdish.com or call (208) 265-6100.