The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

When I started this column about 8 month ago I wanted to showcase, from time to time, something extraordinary, something special, that is the result of the passion of our regional chefs. I wanted my first offer- ing to showcase the amazing dishes I found but we decided to focus on hyper-local and talk about Waitsburg first just to establish the column.

I think now that enough time has passed that I can cast the net a little wider and welcome a treat that is just down the road into the mix. Pastrami! This is not some pathetic excuse for pastrami. You know the kind - the stuff that makes you say you don't like pastrami - that dry, over-salted and under-flavored chewy-like-old-saltwater-taffy pastrami. No my friend, this is the real deal. Pastrami that is succulent and juicy, pepper and smoky spicy with dripping fatty goodness which could challenge the classics of New York and makes you think that you'd rather eat nothing else for the rest of your life pastrami! I'm talking about the pastrami at Graze. And if you haven't had it (and you're not a vegan or vegetarian) then I have no idea what you've been waiting for.

What is pastrami? Pastrami is one of those old world dish- es born of necessity as a way to preserve meat before modern refrigeration came into existence. Like many old-world foods, brining and salting were methods commonly used to kill bacteria and store foods for a longer period of time. In pastrami's case, beef is brined (everyone has their own secret recipe), partly dried out to remove excess moisture, then sea- soned with herbs and spices (again a part of those tightly held recipes) then smoked and finally steamed for service. There you have it - simple eh?

The proprietor of Graze is a really great guy - John Lastoskie - Lithuanian by blood though he hails from Upland California and to our benefit landed in Walla Walla. There must be some magical combination in the marriage of these worlds that makes him a natural pro at crafting amazing pastrami. John and his wife Becca have created a cool little empire with the heart of the matter being the catering side of their business. I asked John about why he decided to open up a sandwich shop on top of the catering business.

"We started the catering business 6 years ago and now do about 250 events plus 25 weddings a year. We opened the shop because though we do a lot of catering, it really is only a viable business for nine month out of the year around here." If you've ever worked with a busy caterer you know that those numbers will keep you hopping during the season. Also "Walla Walla had nothing like this when we put it together so we figured as long as we did it right we'd succeed." Indeed!

So now they've got their hands full. The sandwich shop is on Colville Street just off of Main and a drive-through only place over on 9th as well, the public certainly seems to agree that the excellent pastrami - plus the focus on all organic greens, fantastic custom made breads from the Walla Walla Bread Company, good prices and fast service is a winning combination.

So if you've never had great pastrami, or if you have and you thought you'd never get to experience the rich goodness of this style of brined meat until your next trip to New York, think again - get yourself to Graze and enjoy!