Metrovino's Dustin See Breaks a Leg (of Lamb)

Welcome back to Chef in the Kitchen, a recurring Eater photo feature where we boldly go where few diners have gone before — into Portland restaurant kitchens — to get a sneak peek of the chef du jour hard at work.

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The rack of lamb — all those tiny bones! — may be the prized cut for some chefs, but for Metrovino's newish chef Dustin See, the leg and sirloin offer "an economical way of providing lamb at a reasonable price." At the Pearl District restaurant, See breaks down each Lava Lake Lamb leg into its individual muscles ("you can get roughly nine to 10 steaks out of each leg of lamb," See says), completing the break-down in fewer than 15 minutes (scraps and trimmings don't get to waste; they appear as part of Metrovino's revamped charcuterie boards and used to make a rich lamb jus that appears on on the plate).

For a current grilled leg of lamb dish, See first marinates the steak in a bath with rosemary and garlic. After grilling, he then serves it atop a bed of spaetzle tossed with morel mushrooms, English peas, parsley, and butter. The plate is finished with parsley oil and the aforementioned lamb jus — in what See refers to as a "tried-and-true flavor combination," no racks required.
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