To demonstrate a new menu offering at the Marquis Lounge, co-owner Meg Bartos holds a fried chicken nugget smeared with crème fraîche. It’s already the culinary equivalent of an oxymoron, but she takes it further.

With a mother-of-pearl spoon, she scoops Giavani Siberian caviar from a chilled tin, gingerly sets the eggs atop the cream, et voilà! The Park Street cocktail and wine bar has dubbed it the “Trashy Meal” — buy a tin of caviar (accompanied by crème fraîche and kettle chips), and for $20 more, you get the nuggets and a glass of bubbly.

The Marquis Lounge served the dish as a one-off at a recent collaboration event with local seafood and caviar purveyor Browne Trading Company. It was such a smash hit they put it on the menu full-time.

“At the end of the day, you can look at (caviar) as a very elevated dipping sauce,” Bartos said. “It’s a little bit salty and creamy. So the pairing is very natural. It makes a lot of sense. It’s just a newer concept to pair caviar with some of these unexpected, less highbrow foods.”

While it may seem to purists like using diamonds to bedazzle jeans, high-low caviar pairings have been in vogue nationwide for some years now. It’s hard to pinpoint how the trend started, but acclaimed chefs like David Chang and Wylie Dufresne were serving fried chicken and caviar dishes at their New York City restaurants in the early 2010s.

In a 2024 Instagram video, pop star Rihanna called caviar-topped chicken nuggets a “soccer-mom snack,” while last year, Manhattan restaurant COQODAQ sold handmade nuggets with Petrossian caviar for $100 at the U.S. Open. If the mashup needed more mainstream cred, it sure got it this Valentine’s Day, when McDonald’s gave out 750 free kits of McNuggets, caviar and crème fraîche in an online promotion stunt.

The high-low caviar trend is gaining traction in Greater Portland, and it’s not limited to chicken nuggets. Five of Clubs, the bar in Portland’s Longfellow Hotel, added a $54 caviar-topped hot dog to their menu in January. You can get hash browns with caviar at Finestkind in Saco for $35.

“It makes something that’s usually associated with opulence — and maybe ostentation and a little pretension — become this thing that’s actually a delicious, fun snack,” said Finestkind chef and co-owner Tom Barthelmes.

CAVIAR BUMPS

Modern takes on traditional caviar service have long been staples at some high-end restaurants. Central Provisions in Portland, for instance, offers caviar flights paired with miso pancakes and cultured cream. But chefs typically pair fish eggs with other premium ingredients. Since 2015, at MK Kitchen in Gorham, chef and co-owner Mitchell Kaldrovich has set orange flying fish roe atop his lobster cones, a Maine lobster roll-themed riff on legendary Chef Thomas Keller’s signature salmon cornets.

Caviar is as popular as ever now, among both veteran connoisseurs and younger generations drawn in by fun, creative new combinations. The trade journal Seafood Source says global caviar sales have jumped more than 70 percent since 2020. Sales through restaurants shriveled up during the pandemic, so caviar producers offered smaller 10- and 12-gram tins (about 2-2.5 teaspoons) direct to consumers, boosting its accessibility and popularity.

“I think FOMO (fear of missing out) and social media are big drivers,” said Shawn Paciulli, national account manager at Browne Trading Company, where most Greater Portland restaurants and bars source their caviar. Videos depicting Gen Zers doing caviar “bumps,” in which they slurp piles off the back of their hands, have garnered more than 15 million views on TikTok.

While “bumps” is also common slang for small hits of cocaine, bumps of caviar are an age-old method for caviar dealers to taste-test product. Body heat warms the eggs, making it easier to pick up flavor nuances. Caviar bumps also let you savor the pleasures of caviar by itself — the briny bursts as the tiny spheres pop, the lush butteriness that coats your mouth — without the distraction of other ingredients.

Marquis Lounge offers $8 caviar bumps that you can also pair with a glass of bubbly or Miller High Life, the self-styled “Champagne of beers.” “It makes caviar feel fun and approachable and Instagrammable,” Bartos said. “It brings it down to earth in a way people enjoy.”

The caviar program at upscale dumpling restaurant and bar Cheetah Lounge also features caviar bumps. Co-owner Jared Dinsmore said caviar fits the sumptuous Old Port venue’s eclectic, “maximalist” vibe, built around pairing dim sum-style dishes with sparkling wine.

“Champagne and caviar bumps lend themselves to a toast,” Dinsmore said. “It’s engaging and inclusive.”

‘FAT ON FAT WITH SALT’

Lucky Cheetah also offers a $150 picnic box with a 30-gram tin of Siberian caviar, a mother-of-pearl spoon, house-made crème fraȋche, chocolate truffles, a split of Perrier-Jouët Champagne, two plastic flutes, and perhaps the most popular modern caviar vehicle: potato chips.

“I think we can admit that something so simple and humble is the best match for it. We drop the pretension when we all just level with each other and say, ‘Hey, chips are the best thing with caviar, right?'” Dinsmore said.

Pure decadence is part of the high-low appeal. Like all eggs, caviar have yolks. Though they’re much higher in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than hen eggs, cured fish eggs are rich and salty. Pairing them with fried chicken, hash browns or potato chips is irresistibly over-the-top.

“Fat on fat with salt is a great combination,” said Paciulli. “These are combos that, deep down inside, we all want.”

“Sometimes too much of a good thing can be really good,” Barthelmes said.

Five of Clubs doubles down on the salt factor by spreading 12 grams of Siberian Supreme caviar on a natural-casing beef hot dog. The lightly sweet Martin’s potato bun and creamy Kewpie mayo are meant to balance the saltiness, according to Longfellow food and beverage manager Brianna Crespo.

Portland-based influencer Emma Levensohn posted a TikTok video of her recent date night at Five of Clubs. “I kind of got the hot dog just because it sounded fun, but it was actually so good,” she said.

Cheetah Lounge may hold the local honor for the most eyebrow-raising caviar pairing: caviar and ice cream.

Cheetah Chef Charlie Eames developed his version of the avant-garde combo (introduced by French master glacier Phillipe Faur in 2008) about a year ago. Eames’ dish features house-made crème fraîche ice cream with a crispy caramel tuile and Golden Osetra caviar on top. Dinsmore said that combined, the components taste almost like almond butter.

“Some guests are apprehensive at first,” he said. “Once they take a bite, they’re like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ People are shocked to find out it doesn’t taste like fish.”

Unorthodox caviar pairings take adventurous diners into uncharted territory, lending a touch of sophisticated flair along the way.

“We’re seeing people gravitate toward experiential splurges rather than just material splurges,” Barthelmes said. “It’s fancy, but it’s not formal. That’s just how people want to eat these days.”