Life

Postero opens in former Flight space

The bar at Postero looks out at Fourth Avenue West.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 10, 2014

Diners streamed into the new Postero restaurant on Thursday, the first day for the new dining establishment in the popular Flight space.

After months of construction work inside the historic bank building, co-owners Jason and Stephanie Reasoner opened the doors on a new floor plan with a bar facing Fourth Avenue, an open kitchen and the loft seating upstairs that Flight also used.
"So far, so good," Stephanie Reasoner said at 6 o'clock Thursday as she orchestrated service for a sizable turnout. "We have about 70 on the reservation list and we've already had walk-ins."
The restaurant seats 80, not including a cluster of hightops and eight seats at the bar.
Contractor Dunlap Construction "did a fabulous job," Stephanie said. "They made the light boxes. They made this bar from the ground up."
She and her husband are both veterans of cooking and hospitality. Stephanie was a front-of-the-house manager at Champion Hills. A cook since age 14, Jason has been a chef at Outback Steakhouse, Highland Lake Inn and Kenmure Country Club.
The Postero menu features appetizers, including house-cut waffle potato chips ($5), chili and lime almonds ($6), pork belly confit ($11), shrimp croquetas ($11) and beetroot, goat cheese and avocado salad ($9); medium plates of roasted pear salad, scallops, little neck clams and baby kale and frisee salad, ranging from $10 to $17; and big plates of shrimp and grits ($21), wild striped bass ($23), sweet potato ravioli ($19), steak ($27) and shiraz braised lamb ($26). Sides ($5 each) include miso-glazed vegetables, poached broccoli, griddled mixed mushrooms, smoked cauliflower mashed potatoes and wilted kale with hickory-smoked bacon lardons and crème Fraiche.
Menus, printed in house on heavy paper, will change quarterly for the season but week to week and even day to day based on what's fresh.
House cut waffle potato chips with 'Funion' salt and French onion mousse."Yesterday this would have been lobster croquet," Stephanie said, pointing to the shrimp appetizer. "Next week the striped bass might not look good. We'll go with whatever fish is looking good.
"We're going to do fresh and local on the menu but fresh and local with our alcohol as well," she said.
The lineup of libations includes four taps of craft beer from the area and bottled craft beer from the area and as far east as Kinston and local spirits. The wine list offers 47 choices, ranging in price from $21-22 bottles of red and white to an $87 French red and a $78 Barnaut champagne.
The couple hatched the concept for their lifelong dream a year and a half ago.
Stephanie took a course on writing a business plan. "You don't realize all the bits and pieces that go together," she said.
On opening day, Jason posted on Facebook: "It's official, I love cooking!!"
His wife confirmed that.
"He loves to cook and hear that tick of another order," she said. "He's like a kid in a candy store."