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Good Taste

Carrots: Colorful, Current, and Cool The humble carrot is having its moment. Only these current carrots – the finger-sized, multi-colored heirlooms ranging in hue from atomic purple to snow white and golden amarillo – are hardly the humble staple of stock pots and lunch-box crudites the root

Roasted baby carrots with yogurt, chipotle pepper, honey, pistachios and toasted quinoa from Bank & Bourbon.
Roasted baby carrots with yogurt, chipotle pepper, honey, pistachios and toasted quinoa from Bank & Bourbon.Read more
    Inquirer
    Published 

The humble carrot is having its moment.

Only these current carrots – the finger-sized, multi-colored heirlooms ranging in hue from atomic purple to snow white and golden amarillo – are hardly the humble staple of stock pots and lunch-box crudites the root has long been relegated to.

These rainbow beauties have been spotted all across town of late, from farm markets to restaurants (Vedge, Petruce, Treemont.)

And I was most struck by their front-and-center treatment as a starter at Bank & Bourbon, the retro-styled American brasserie that has brought much-needed life to the former Sole Food space in the Loews PSFS hotel.

Chef Tom Harkin, inspired by a carrot salad at New York's ABC Kitchen, roasts his roots skin-on with a smoky glaze of chipotle oil, then sets them over a creamy smear of Greek yogurt scattered with crispy quinoa and pistachios. Vividly sweet yet earthy. Tender yet firm enough to wear their crunchy garnish with toothy style, these are carrots primed to shine.

- Craig LaBan

Baby carrots, $9, Bank & Bourbon, 1200 Market St., 215-231-7300; bankandbourbon.com

    Inquirer