Cuisine:

• American
• New American

Root 246 Description:
This is the restaurant many in the Santa Ynez Valley had been waiting for, a local answer to Napa's culinary pyrotechnics. Far removed from the kitschy Danish theme that's long haunted Solvang, Root 246 announces the arrival of chef Bradley Ogden and his panoply of New American cuisine. Lest the name fail to convey the message: the eatery marks the intersection of sustainably raised regional ingredients and the chef's own roots. Ogden transforms a decidedly homey dish from his childhood, Ive's Shake 'n Bake fried chicken, into an elegant swan, using premium quality Rocky Jr. birds; a barbecue Iowa pork loin chop arrives with creamed corn and "sweet corn biscuit." Appetizers are equally inspired, and may include Maytag blue cheese soufflé with roasted quince and Seckel pear salad. The menu is filled with notable successes. But it doesn't take an iron will to save room for petite "taster" desserts such as a butterscotch pudding with chocolate crinkle cookie or banana split with house-made fluff, local strawberries and hot fudge. In a dazzling, no-expense-spared interior, chic urbanites on their weekend getaway mix with casual local patrons. Only the odd towhead toddler gives away the proximity of the adjacent hotel. The centerpiece of the main room is a climate-controlled display case with some 2,000 bottles of wine, most of them from Santa Barbara County. To be sure, this is the New World of wine country dining on the Central Coast.


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