HIS STORY
Chef Jared Martin set foot in his first commercial kitchen at age 16, serving in an ice cream shop. Six months later he shifted to food. Martin spent time perfecting his craft in restaurants across the region, connecting with mentors along the way and mentoring others in the process.
The evening began with Bar Chef Joe Trail’s welcoming Mint Lemonberry Spritz of vodka, soda water, mint, raspberries and blackberries, and the secret ingredient—ginger beer. “I wanted something bright and refreshing to awaken the palate,” said Trail.
We sat down with owners Doug and Tara Snover, who restarted Fire + Smoke in December after its previous owner Archer Bagley unexpectedly shut its doors.
“It was a fairy tale story,” said Cityview Publisher Nathan Sparks. “A restaurant saved because it was a couple’s favorite date-night destination.”
“It was a people thing,” explained Doug Snover, a project executive with Messer Construction. “We wanted to retain the great folks like Joe Trail, server Mandy Glenn, Chef Jared Martin, and his team of sous chefs who are learning so much from him. It was a team, a restaurant ready to go.”
A First Bite of two A5 Wagyu beef medallions came with a blistered, smoky-flavored cherry tomato, cornbread crisp, and pickled peppers. They were paired with either a Yamazaki single malt Japanese whisky or Spanish La Cartuja Priorat red wine.
A palate cleanser of lime sorbet made way for an appetizer of four steamed little neck clams in tomato broth, with crispy potatoes and bacon, topped with Greek yogurt foam, and paired with a High Valley Sauvignon Blanc.
An intermezzo of lemon thyme sorbet made way for the no-knife-required, smoked and braised, bone-in short rib, Yukon Gold potatoes, Hen of the Woods mushrooms and blackberry bordelaise, paired with Purple Hands Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
“It is a versatile wine,” said Martin. “With notes of mango and grapefruit, it provides a wonderful balance and elegance to the earthy flavors of the entree.”
Cucumber sorbet introduced what Martin calls “our play on a S’more”—a flourless chocolate torte, toasted marshmallow, graham cracker, covered in chocolate ganache served with fresh raspberries. It was paired with a Cup of Joe, combining Mr. Black coffee liqueur, Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream, Appleton Estates Signature Jamaican rum, and allspice.