A review of Root Kitchen and Wine Bar in Chattanooga Tennessee
On the way to a photo shoot at Coolidge Park, we drove by Root Kitchen and Wine Bar. I had heard a little about it, but didn’t realize where it was located. It is off of Manufacturer’s Road near the Whole Foods. After perusing some online reviews, we decided to give it a try for dinner after the shoot. Since it is winter, the shoot ended about 5:15, so we got there by 5:30 on a Saturday evening and had our choice of seats. Even though the lighting is pretty dark, when I explained that I would be taking photos, they let me pick where I had access to the best light.
I immediately loved the decor and their logo. It’s a combination of earthy and industrial. There is a large kitchen area, fully visible, on the other side there is a bar area. The first thing we did was read the drink menu. I settled on the Short Mountain Stumble and the hubs chose a glass of red wine.
The bartender actually brought over our drinks. She handed the wine to my husband and then sat my cocktail in front of me. She explained that it’s a strong drink and that some people order it, not realizing how strong it is, and they don’t like it. I assured her that it wouldn’t be a problem. And it wasn’t. The Short Mountain Stumble was so good! It is Short Mountain Moonshine, tequila, strawberry and rosemary ice cubes, hibiscus syrup and strawberry simple syrup. What I loved besides how good it tasted was the ice cube. What a great idea. I kept chopping away at it with my straw as the evening wore on and it slowly added more strawberry to my drink. Definitely going to copy that idea on some of our ice cubes for our at home cocktails.
I ordered the Belle Chevre Flatbread and the Kale 2 Ways Salad. When the salad arrived it was a work of art! Gorgeous deep green kale, topped with crispy kale chips, grapefruit segments, radishes, root vegetable shavings and almonds. The vinaigrette was perfect. I just ate it with my fingers, it was too pretty to cut up.
My chevre flat bread was also great. The tart cheese paired perfect with the sweet marmalade. I think on the menu online it says that it was topped with arugula, but I’m pretty sure mine were tiny Brussel’s sprouts leaves. Combined with the kale salad and the cocktail, I was happy! Everything was light and delicious.
The hubs ordered the special which was venison and boar ribs. Since it was the special, I didn’t have anything to copy the description from, so I’m probably leaving something out. They were served over some of the best braised collards I’ve ever had in my life. I wanted to go ask the chef how they were made, but if I made something that good, I wouldn’t give up my secrets, so I didn’t ask.
We loved our meal! It was perfect. Our server, Augusta was always available and helpful and very personable. We will definitely eat there again.
You can read more about Root Kitchen and Wine Bar at their website: Root Kitchen and Wine Bar. They are located at 313 Manufacturers Road.
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