Sustainable dining review: Russet

One of my favorite things about the Philly restaurant scene is our abundance of BYOBs. (Drink as much as your arms can carry!) The bigger the group, the greater the volume. But, too much of a good thing often turns sour.

Enter Russet. You know right away that it's something different here.

I meet my parents here for an early dinner. It's the pre-theater crowd and it's restaurant week. Every seat is full, but it still feels intimate. Small shelves of knick-knacks punctuate bare walls, naked bulbs reveal glowing filaments, plants crowd the windows like you're in someone's home. The high ceilings, the tables, the people, everything is the color of candlelight.

We toast and our first course arrives. Beet ravioli, startlingly Christmas red, contain salty Gorgonzola. The soft pouches of pasta are not dense or overstuffed, the noodles are thin and have puckered, papery tops. The cheese is crumbly, melty, almost lemony in flavor. It's all so tender you could swallow it whole. A rough chop of toasty walnuts adds a crunch and subtle bitterness. I shamelessly scour the rim of my plate with my pinky. Must. Have. More.

More arrives in the form of my second course: root vegetable gratin. I was forced into a vegetarian option in the spirit of not repeating orders. I'm not excited, but it looks so different than I'd expected. Square slivers of root vegetables are layered like lasagna, a slanted stack balanced on a cluster of mushrooms, kale and sweet potato. My mom promptly destroys the presentation and serves herself half.

Each vegetable has distinct flavor. Some are tender, some are toothy. A few taste pickled and the aroma of ginger drifts in and out. There's invisible rosemary somewhere and the sweet potato is velvety and buttery and dense. I am so glad I ordered this.

Until I try the beef shoulder my mom ordered, resting on grainy polenta and topped with intensely concentrated tomato "fondue." Good Lord. The flavor of the meat is slow and winey like pot roast. Flakey, fork tender inside and savory brown bark seared onto the outside. When I imagine how beef should taste, I picture this.

With my last sips of wine I reflect and realize that all of the foods we've tasted here have been superlative versions of themselves. The flavors are concentrated but remain true to their origins. The squash soup tasted like squash, the beet ravioli like beets, the beef like BEEF.

I promised myself I wouldn't say "farm-to-table" in this article. I almost made it! But, alas… Russet has relationships solely with local farms, which means seasonal dishes with local roots -- hence a Fair Food badge on their My MilkCrate profile. They show us how food tastes when farm-to-table shakes it's trendiness and retains its intention. The only downside: craving your favorite dish when it's out of season (I'm looking at you, beet ravioli).

To learn more, write a review or add Russet to your favorites list, explore their My MilkCrate profile here.

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