By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
One dish has me consumed. With so many quality local food joints—plus my own kitchen, consistent friend family dinners, and the wondrous haven of mom’s house—it is rare I become a true regular anywhere. Then, on a September visit to Latin American grocery store El Mercadito to stock up on cotija cheese and tamales, my eye landed on a small sidewalk sandwich board.
“Estrella del Mar: Ecuadorian ceviche,” it announced. I was not at all hungry, yet there was no question that I was heading inside.
Ceviche, a Latin American coastal dish, features citrus-marinated fish or shellfish and relies heavily on the freshness of its ingredients. I’m big on fresh. I found “my” ceviche place in Restaurant Bar Bahía while spending a few weeks in Todos Santos on the Baja Peninsula. I did not expect one in the Gallatin Valley.
Estrella del Mar, which means star of the sea, or starfish, is everything I want in fast casual dining. It is healthy. It is fresh. It is fast. I’d say it would be perfection if it had a drive through, but then you wouldn’t get the pleasure of meeting owner Michael Román.
Román’s already wide smile somehow widens as customers walk in the door of Estrella del Mar in Four Corners. His infectious enthusiasm for his food is on proud display. Román is a product of Montana and Ecuador, where his parents met in the Peace Corps. His stories of the places interweave as he talks. At one point he and his five siblings are helping run the family pizza joint in Forsyth, aptly named Forsyth Pizza and Beer. At another, he speaks about his father, a judge, needing to be in Ecuador to advance his career.
Like the homes the languages represent, Román easily switches back and forth between Spanish and English, even adapting his accent as he says the name of the restaurant. In Spanish, Estrella del Mar’s double “L” is pronounced like a “Y.” Sometimes Román says “es-trell-a” to connect the name with the spelling for English speakers. It sounds much more lyrical when he says “es-trey-a.”
Román has “loved ceviche for years and years and years.” Ready for a change, he opened Estrella del Mar this year after spending more than 20 years in the mortgage business.
Montana, he said, is also ready. Estrella del Mar’s concept was tested among small groups of friends and family here and in Ecuador. Both found it delicious and unexpected.
Estrella del Mar’s ceviche explores combinations of seafood and tropical fruits from Ecuador. It uses common Ecuadorian ingredients in ways that are uncommon in that region.
“They don’t necessarily use all of these tropical fruits they have for ceviche,” Román said.
Fruits like tree tomatoes, naranjilla and the elongated banana papaya known as taxo appear in Román’s marinades, hot sauces and juices.
While there are set recipes on the menu, I’ve been gravitating toward the build-your-own ceviche approach. Pick a marinade (my favorite of the moment is a combination of taxo and coconut lime). Pick your seafood (octopus and shrimp are parboiled, fish and scallops are cooked in citrus juices). Pick fresh fruit and veggie toppings like mango, avocado and onion. Pick some spicy peppers or add tree tomato ají. The ceviche is served in Ecuadorian style with plantain chips as well as white or brown rice.
“It’s the Chipotle of ceviche,” Román said, not wanting to associate with the chain but also knowing that it helps people understand the concept.
Currently, Estrella del Mar is experimenting with hot dishes to complement the ceviche and add a warm option for the coming winter season. I was as impressed by the intensity of flavor in the encocado, an Ecuadorian dish with fish and shrimp in a rich coconut sauce. And I’m drooling for another bowl of locro, a potato soup with cheese, cilantro and avocado.
“These flavor combinations are going to blow people away a little bit,” Román said
While he talked, I stuffed myself, wanting to try each new dish on offer as well as eat a giant bowl of ceviche. I took more to-go and I was still back at Estrella del Mar two days later. What can I say? I’m hooked.
