Philadelphia - August 15, 2008

Get to the Root

Root Restaurant Opens

We’ll cut to the chase: We love Root restaurant.

At first glance, the BYOB looks austere: white walls, cement floor, butcher block tables. But the point is chef/owner Christopher Hora’s food, which doesn’t need the gimmicky, Bennigan’s-esque decor that some restauranteurs use to push plates.

Lunch includes fettucini a la russe, curried chicken salad sandwich with grapes, a gazpacho that we liked (and we hate gazpacho). Dinner goes global, with standard (gem lettuce salad with candied pumpkin seeds) mixed with adventurous (oxtail and rabbit raviolo, deconstructed cheesecake). Everything is as local, organic, and sustainable as possible.

You still want design? Just wait. Installation artist Edward Dormer is setting a tree root into the wall and hanging hydroponic plants in test tubes. Lighting comes from Artemide; server uniforms from Sugarcube.

It just doesn’t get any better.

Root, 1033 Spring Garden Street (215-765-0904 or rootrestaurant.com).