Root

Unfortunately, Root has closed.

Even though I wasn’t able to make it opening night, I still got to be among the first to kick off the new restaurant, Root, located in Richmond Heights at Big Bend and 40. The official opening was held the week before and the theme of the restaurant is Old World American foods, including such dishes as rabbit and squab, so I knew this would not be a typical meal.

Starting with the appetizers, Beth and I, along with my parents, decided to be adventurous and try the creamed lobster on fried bread. The lobster came in such a rich sauce that you really needed the bread underneath to pick it up and help soak it all up. Delicious!

As a special treat, the chef sent over three types of caviar for the next course! I had never seen eggs so large before and the ones I tried had a salty tuna or salmon flavor. We also each ordered a small salad with greens sprinkled with goat cheese so I didn’t have to go completely without cheese on this night.

The highlight of the meal by far was definitely the whole, red snapper, which was more than enough for the four of us. Luckily, Linda had NO fear and quickly went to work cutting into the fish despite a lack of proper utensils. The meat underneath the skin easily flaked off and tasted so light and fresh. Once we cut all the meat from one side, Linda then pulled up the tail and the bottom half almost fell right off the rest of the bone!

For our sides that came a la carte, we ordered a few vegetable dishes that were appropriately sized. The Roasted Mushrooms were lightly seasoned and easily everyone’s favorite as opposed to the creamed kale, whose sauce drenched and overpowered the leaves. The cheesy grits actually tasted more like potatoes and definitely were a guilty pleasure although it was hard to get off the spoon because they were so thick. hehe

We all desperately wanted to try a dessert as well but no one had room since we still had quite a bit of fish leftover.

Instead of my usual glass of wine, I wanted to test out Bartender Matt Sorrell’s “Mr. Collin’s Mule”, which tasted similar to a ginger beer. Very refreshing without the heavy, boozy flavor. I do hope to try more of his specialty cocktails in the very near future!

Resources:

Root = http://rootstl.com