Robert McGee elevates comfort food
Apartment3 / For a chef used to the abundance of local produce in the Pacific Northwest, it’s been interesting for Robert McGee to meet the challenge of using as many fine local ingredients as possible, then going to pick up shipments of the rest. “When you gotta go down to the docks and load it into your truck and bring it back, you gotta appreciate that. Nothing goes to waste here,” he says with a laugh.
McGee, who recently took over as executive chef at Apartment3, comes directly from the acclaimed Slow Bar in Portland, Ore., and is no stranger to the club dining scence. But with a culinary background that speaks more to fine dining than fast food, McGee is enthused about working in a different bar setting.
“It’s good to have parameters…’cause then you can just push the envelope within those confines,” he says. “It’s nice to see how much you can blow it up within those.” As such, quality comfort dishes such as shrimp and grits, stacked ratatouille and vanilla-infused milk and cookies currently grace the still-experimental menu, not even two months old.
“Charcuterie plays a lot more into this menu than I ever thought it could. There’s a lot of sausage on the menu,” adds McGee, who makes the sausage, along with most everything on the menu, from scratch.
And as a newbie to the island food scene, McGee has been particularly love-struck (stomach-struck?) by the greens. “MAO’s are fantastic. Things like their braising greens, their chards, their young fennel is beyond reproach. It’s just got some of the most flavorful stuff I’ve ever eaten. But I will say their arugula–for some reason–that sticks out to me, mostly because I like bitter greens.”
As an avid fisherman, McGee is also looking for the secret spots on the island, with hopes of offering hook-and-line caught fish specials from time to time. Other visions include offering barbecue and more fixed-price dinners.
The biggest items on his menu will come, he hopes, from the rest of us.
“If you’re out there and you’re milking cows or growing chickens or you’ve got some pigs, I want to know about them. I’d rather bring them over the hill or around the corner than across the ocean. I like cooking in the neighborhood.”
With open arms and an open mind, you’re welcome to knock of the door of your new neighbor at Apartment3. Pig or no pig.
Apartment3
1750 Kalakaua Ave., 3rd Fl., Tue–Fri, 6pm–2am, Sat 7pm–2am, food served until 12:30am, [apartmentthree.com], 955-9300
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