Root

Went to lunch in the Warehouse District with my friend Beth today. We visited Root, a fairly new restaurant that "offers Modern American cuisine rooted in traditional flavors and techniques." While I'm not entirely sure what that means, I do know that this is definitely the place to get your meat fix. Their menu is filled with an intriguing selection of charcuterie and sausages.

We started with the “CBD” which is a Chicken, Beef, Duck-Poached Ballotine (the meat moussed and rolled and wrapped in skin and poached). It came with a selection of pickled things - watermelon rind, cantaloupe, mushrooms, peppers, bread and butter cucumbers, etc. as well as with some house made blueberry mustard. Rich and delicious, I dived in so quickly that, when I remembered to take a picture, we had almost devoured everything.

For the main course, Beth went with her favorite - the Root burger. It was a good sized burger with a lovely flavor combination of thick bacon, sweet caramelized onions and aged cheddar complimenting the beef patty. It comes with fries and house made ketchup (yum!).

I went for the Chicharrones Two Ways - pork skins and pork belly with several flavorful dipping sauces. I've got to say that while the mole in particular was really good, the crackling and pork belly were delicious on their own, with nothing but a squeeze of lime juice.

I wish I hadn't been too full for dessert as they have quite a wild selection. I consoled myself that there is always next time!

The wait staff was friendly and informed and spoke quite intelligently when we had questions about the terms on the menu. It was with their help that I walked out with small tubes of blueberry mustard and fig mustard to enjoy at home.

Pretty much every item on the menu is an interesting twist on what you'd expect, making this very much a place to go to see what is new and exciting food preparation. It may be a little pricey for lunch but, we all deserve to treat ourselves occasionally!