Jamie Malone Chef de Cuisine, Sea Change Restaurant, Minneapolis, MN Food & Wine Best New Chef, 2013 Best Chef, Midwest nominee 2014 - James Beard Foundation

Under the mentorship of Chef Tim McKee (2009 James Beard Award Winner),

Jamie Malone has taken the reigns of Sea Change - located in the Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater - as the Chef de Cuisine.

The restaurant is dedicated to sustainable seafood - which for a land-locked state, can have it's challenges. However, dining at Sea Change, one could think they were at a restaurant on the Pacific Coast.

Chef Malone is one of the most driven chefs we have had the pleasure to meet. Her

organization and attention to detail carry over to every dish that leaves the open kitchen, bound for patrons tables. From Poke to oysters, abalone to short-ribs, the plates at Sea Change are culinary masterpieces created by a chef that The FareTrade is proud to have had the pleasure to work along-side.

After arriving in Minneapolis and adjusting to the ever-so-slight temperature difference from a Los Angeles "winter", taking a seat at the open-kitchen bar of the robust and

architecturally intriguing dining room was a warm welcome.

Trying to decide what to order at Sea Change is no easy task. Every dish on the menu sounds mouth-watering - the only logical place to begin was with Oysters.

Half-dozen oysters - various.

When I finished indulging in the pearls of the ocean - I decided to give myself up to the kitchen and let them guide my palate for the night. The first dish up was Chef Malone's take on the Hawaiian classic - Poke.

Hawaiian Ahi Poke

Traditionally a raw salad dish (Poke is the Hawaiian word for "to cut or slice"), modern

interpretations often include diced Ahi. Chef Malone has taken a more minimalistic approach to the dish with a single cube of perfect Ahi, smothered in a creamy and briny sauce, topped with a few pieces of masago (roe from the capelin fish), all on top of a small nori salad. A perfect, one-bite introduction to the sustainable seafood focus that is Sea Change.

Next up: Uni Toast!

Uni Toast

A whole slab of uni resting on a slightly crispy toast. Need I say more.

The plate features one of my favorite ingredients (other than Uni) - Yuzu Kosho - which Sea Change makes in house - game changer. If you have never had the pleasure of

tasting Yuzo Kosho, find your nearest Japanese market and pick some up. It normally comes in Red or Green but Sea Change created a yellow version. The spicy citrus notes of the Kosho perfectly pairs with the briny uni and acts to cut through the fennel-butter slathered toast.

Beef Short Rib

For a non-fishy look at Chef Malone's talent, I had the pleasure of sampling her glazed beef short rib, featuring onion, whey, potato and licorice. A mid-west classic - kind of.

Savory, succulent and fork tender, this was a masterfully prepared piece of meat. Pair that with the technically sound knife work on the potatoes, the modernist foam touch and the delicately placed herbs and this dish will make you forget all about your moms steak and potatoes.

Sea Change - a restaurant of classic, yet re-imagined flavors, wonderfully executed by one of America's leading chef talent and her team. Proving that sustainable seafood is not only accomplishable in the mid-west, but able to be done at the highest level while still pushing culinary boundaries. The FareTrade is humbled to be able to Feature Chef Jamie Malone in our first ever basket and look forward to following her career through new heights.

Stay adventurous, epicureans.

The FareTrade