When a little birdie told me that Solvang’s Root 246 recently revised its list of handcrafted signature cocktails, that was all the inspiration I needed to check it out. The wife and I were feeling adventurous, especially as I could count on one hand the number of high falutin’ five-course meals I’ve had in my life. And for half of those meals, I remember thinking the food was good but not nearly worth the price.
First off, the service at Root 246 was bonkers good. Our waitress, Diana, could talk about the intricacies of the dishes as if she’d made them herself, and our water glasses never dropped below a quarter full.
The chic and modern decor inside and the pleasant patio seating outside were nice. But nicest of all was chef Crystal “Pink” DeLongpré. On a bustling Saturday night, she took the time to guide us through her new cocktail menu, explaining that gin and mezcal are the hot new craft liquors, with small distilleries worldwide taking the time to perfect their batches.
“I had to tirelessly taste dozens of gins, poor me!” Chef Pink said. “Everyone thinks of grandma’s gin—that overpowering mouthwash and rubbing alcohol flavor—but these are sipping gins, with botanicals that we can specially match with unique tonics.”
I ordered the Monkey 47 gin and Fever-Tree citrus tonic, which had Thai-inspired embellishments of kaffir lime leaf, ginger, cilantro, and orange peel. It was served cold with smoldering dry ice in a deep wine glass that captured the bubbling fog and herbal aromas in every sip.
Chef Pink offered to choose our courses for us, so my wife and I sat back and enjoyed the ride. First came a course of Morro Bay oysters with house-made cocktail sauce, Meyer lemons, and a St. Germain mignonette, which are some words I’ve never heard before. They described a clear liquid with garlic that was damn good on those oysters.
Then came a pair of vibrant salads. Mine was shaved heirloom squash and herbs atop fresh burrata, my new favorite cheese. It’s soft and melty without being hot. My wife’s salad was probably my favorite morsel of the evening. Hers had deep red tomatoes, sweet peaches, ricotta cheese, and pearls of balsamic vinegar that Chef Pink had encapsulated with either voodoo or science, hard to tell.
Next, a heaping bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts appeared, delicious and crispy with sesame seeds and tamari sauce. At the same time, Diana brought five grilled shrimp coated in spices and arranged next to a spread of rich, nutty mole sauce.
By then, our first round of drinks was getting low. I toyed with the idea of trying Root 246’s new flight of mezcal samplings straight from Oaxaca, Mexico, but that seemed excessive for someone who had to drive later. I got a mezcal cocktail instead, the Smoky Paloma. This thing was a masterpiece. There was kumquat liqueur and grapefruit juice to sweeten the deal, but they didn’t try to hide the smoky and powerful taste of the mezcal.
At this point in the dinner service, I was happier than I’d ever been with a meal, and then the entrees arrived. My wife’s was a pair of octopus tentacles charred to perfection and served alongside crispy chicharrones in a pool of salsa verde. ’Twas damn good. My meal was classic steak and potatoes with greens. There was nothing especially elevated about it, yet it seemed perfect, like the potatoes in particular had no right to be that good.
Before dessert, Chef Pink came back to chat a bit and explained how she began her adult life as an artist and had some success selling paintings but could never quite figure out the business end of things. She said she’d been lounging on a couch when she saw an ad for a culinary arts school and went for it. She’d been raised around food, with a mom who waited tables and tended bar and a dad who fished for abalone.
“The second I walked in the door of my first kitchen, I knew I’d never do anything else,” she said. “I fell in love with kitchen culture. The chaos and the control.”
Chef Pink said she strives to speak through her food and serve sustainable, locally sourced concoctions. She quit one of her first kitchen gigs in Santa Barbara when she realized that she didn’t know anything about farming except that no one growing or raising the food she served could afford to eat at her restaurant. She worked a ranch for a year and has been fighting to purge the pretense from fine dining ever since.
A meal at Root 246 might seem expensive for working-class folk, but it’s not so outlandish that it can’t be enjoyed for a special occasion. It’s certainly worth every penny.
When contributor Nick Powell isn’t feigning fancy, he’s searching for that next great hole-in-the-wall place. Send peaks to npowell@santamariasun.com.
Powell’s Picks
• Piper’s Kombucha Brew is celebrating its grand opening Aug. 31 from 1 to 7 p.m. at 195 S. Broadway, suite 104. Support a new local business!
• Learn to make cultured cheeses and yogurt at Lompoc’s Dare 2 Dream Farms on 890 La Salle Road on Sept. 7 from 1 to 5 p.m. Attendance costs $44.95 and includes recipes, samples, and instruction led by livestock manager Rachel Meeker. Visit dare2dreamfarms.com for more information.
• I’ve said before that Atari Ya has the Central Coast’s best sushi, but if you’re in Lompoc, Sake Sushi and Korean BBQ at 1325 N. H St. is the next best thing.
Contributor Nick Powell is cooking up ideas for food recommendations. Send a grocery list of ingredients to npowell@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 5, 2019.