Rosendale's

It was Dad's birthday the last weekend. I got him some cigars and booze as a present. He took me to Rosendale's as part of the celebration. I'm pretty sure I won that deal.

Rosendale's is pretty well recognized, both in Columbus and elsewhere. The place is the namesake establishment of star chef Richard Rosendale, he of the Team USA culinary squad.

His restaurant offers cutting edge cuisine in a similar vein as heralded chefs like Grant Achatz, Ferran Adria and Wylie Dufresne. More conveniently for me, it's also located in Columbus rather than Chicago, New York or Spain like the other darlings of the foodie circuit.

Rosendale's does a degustation, but I stuck to the standard a la carte menu, which offered multiple vegetarian options. I was also told that I could have ordered a vegetarian chef's menu (which I will have to keep in mind for later days).

The bread was served with plain and rosemary butter. Rosendale's prides itself on preparing specialty butters and ice cream on site (more on that later).

I started my meal with the spinach salad (pictured above), prepared with julienned green apples, goat cheese ravioli and Granny Smith sorbet in a thyme vinaigrette. The acidity of the apples and goat cheese was nicely contrasted by the vegetal character of the greens.

The second course was a Yukon Gold potato and chevre goat cheese terrine with marinated cherry tomato on top of a basil gelee drizzled with organic olive oil. The herbal basil compliments the rich terrine. The presentation was also excellent.

My main course was an artichoke heart stuffed tomato on a potato griddle cake with carrots, green beans and various foamed vegetables. The presentation of the tomato was an experience, as the tomato appears whole until cut into pieces, when it reveals its artichoke-laden interior.

My only minor complaint is that some of the bells and whistles science food tricks like foamed vegetables take me back to 2002, and this practice is actually a much older (and more tired) trick than that. It isn't a cutting edge deal when they feature it as part of a carefully narrated news segment. Despite my minor antipathy toward nitrogenated veggies, however, few items came close to falling flat.

My dessert was coconut ice cream with pineapple chips served in a pineapple and pomegranate relish. The ice cream was rich and delicately sweet, flavored with real coconut milk that gave it a luscious character that is unmatched by faux coconut.

The restaurant decor is sleek and modern, consisting of black and metallic tones throughout most of the restaurant offset by controlled lighting. The bar does a fairly brisk business. Judging from their great selection of cocktails like the Sugarplum martini and the Eggnog martini, as well as a carefully selected list of craft beers, a voluminous list of top shelf liquors and a wine list that spans much of the globe in many different price ranges. The bar also serves interesting food items like the white truffle popcorn which I am most definitely going to have to go back and try.

The service was outstanding. The server was very attentive and did a great job explaining what to order to suit my delicate vegetarian sensibilities. Thank you Molly--you're on my list of things to order off the menu next time I'm in Rosendale's.

I also got some great pictures of the chef's ice sculptures. The other positive aspect of photographic representations of Rosendale's is that since the place is so highly regarded, many others have also taken some stunning pictures of the food that will do a better job showing off the presentation of this great food than I did. Try this one and this one on for size.

This place is a must try. Enjoy my pictures below, and then get yourself to Rosendale's and enjoy something there even more.

Rosendales