There is no better way to begin dinner than to be asked if its ok if the chef just cooks for you. And its even better when you are presented with a large menu but are too involved in conversation to even look at it. For this reason I don’t have descriptions of a few dishes as they were off menu. For those I do know, in the spirit of the evening I’m not going to label them either. Sure I could have taken notes when the servers presented dishes, and perhaps that would have been the responsible thing to do in order to keep up with this blog. But for once it was lovely just to enjoy dinner and the company without such distractions.

I enjoyed Root & Bone so much for dinner that I had to return for brunch when it was finally added. The menu contains quite a few items from the dinner menu but there are some new ones as well. Be prepared for a lengthy wait despite how quickly they turn tables.

Marquee – gin, honeydew, lemon, sparkling wine & absinthe rinse
Applejack smash – applejack, maple syrup, muddled lemon, mint & peychaud’s bitters

Drunken deviled eggs

Rainbow beets & other roots salad – ricotta creme, citrus, tart apple, watercress & smokey candied pecans

Bird – sweet tea brined, lemon dusted, spiked Tabasco honey

Braised short rib meatloaf & eggs – parsnip root mash, slow poached eggs, horseradish, tomato ketchup jam

Sticky toffee pudding

I try to shy away from visiting restaurants right after opening preferring that they work out the kinks on somebody other than me. And more often than not I’ve been burned when deviating from this rule. However I found myself in the neighborhood of Little Park during its opening week so decided I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. After admittedly being disappointed by Andrew Carmellini’s Lafayette I am happy to say that experience has been wiped from my memory. Everything we tried was delicious and some of the plating, such as the butternut squash, is much more refined than I was expecting. And the fall sundae is even better than it sounds. I will definitely be going back for that before the season is over.

Apple buck – James Oliver rye, Strega, lemon, red jacket orchards Apple cider, dandelion & burdock bitters, fever tree ginger beer

Crispy Brussels sprouts – smoked parsnip, apple

Endive – pear, walnut, sheep cheese

Butternut squash – burrata, nasturtium

Roasted sunchokes – hazelnut, black trumpet

Whole wheat spaghetti – pork, cabbage

Fall sundae of Apple & beer