A restaurant that offers globally influenced seasonal cuisine and prides itself on its sustainability practices. Root Down, located in northwest Denver, is a highly reviewed (and loved!) restaurant by its visitors. And just like them, we also were impressed by the food this place had to offer.

Decor And Ambience:

Its bricked walls decorated with paintings and unique wall art gives it a contemporary look. The dimly lit restaurant though will be perfect for a date night, I would have preferred for slightly more brighter ambience, so as to enjoy its decor and art in a better way. Of course, if you are visiting at daytime, this won’t be something to be bothered about.

The restaurant has a variety of seating options. So based on time, season or mood, visitors can choose to dine at the bar/inside or enjoy the patio. We sat at booth and could see the open kitchen. It had colorful glass wall that matched perfectly with the ‘bricked’ design decor.

Though the restaurant was not full, we always prefer to make reservations to avoid wait times. And Root Down takes its reservations via OpenTable. They also have complimentary valet parking which is always a plus if you prefer to utilize your time better.

Food Review:

We started our dinner with drinks. They have a full bar and offer not just specialty cocktails but they also have interesting non-alcoholic drinks. For appetizers, we were torn between their Summer Risotto and Scallops. Lucky for us, we saw that we can have scallops added to Risotto.

The Summer Risotto had a bang of flavors. It was the highlight of our entire dinner. The Bianco Sardo cheese and mascarpone made it creamy while succotash (consisting of the corn, tomatoes and bell peppers) added the crunch. Chia seeds gave every bite a grainy texture. And the perfectly seared, soft scallops would just melt in the mouth. Everything was bound together by right amount of seasoning.

For main course, we had the Lamb 2 Ways. It had two pieces of lamb T-bone, drizzled with date jus. The lamb sausage, had a taste of seekh kabab that was complimented by the cardamom yogurt. The apricots and preserved lemon gave it a balanced sweet and sour taste.

Our final course was the Chocolate Bombe. This half-dome shaped chocolate filled with vanilla ganache may look heavy but was light and not strong on chocolate. The strawberry rhubarb compote balanced the sweetness of the dessert while the crumb and almond brownie gave it crunch.

Interesting Fact

This review will not be complete without highlighting the facts that Root Down is a restaurant that is powered completely by wind energy. 50% of their ingredients are from local market and 20% from their own garden of 4000 sq feet. Their sustainability practices are (listed in detail in their website) amazing and is inspiring for so many other restaurants. They not only care about your food but also of our environment.

“Root Down aims to connect the neighborhood to a dining experience in the same way ingredients are connected to food.”

Taken from their website

A happy me, after a fabulous dinner at Root Down.