April 29, 2015
Behind this barrier, Rustic Root is putting the finishing touches on its new space in the Gaslamp, which occupies the former Marble Room site and could soft open as early as next week.
The 2,500-square-foot restaurant will share a kitchen with the adjacent Don Chido, which owners RMD Group and Ken Lovi of The Knotty Barrel opened last June. RMD Group, which runs several popular nightlife spots in town, including FLUXX and Sidebar, says they don’t plan to open more clubs in San Diego but intend to continue to expand their restaurant holdings, with two more eateries in the works for 2016.
Rustic Root’s menu, in the hands of its immensely capable executive chef Antonio Friscia, centers around “rustic American cuisine”, sourced locally, that spans the melting pot of cultures. There are deviled eggs, fried chicken and burgers, plus chicken liver mousse and firecracker shrimp with sriracha mayo. Friscia’s Italian heritage comes into play via housemade pasta, from ravioli with walnuts and butternut squash to lobster pappardelle.
The restaurant will open for dinner nightly, with brunch on weekends, and plans to have a bustling late night bar service; notable barman Garth Flood, Cowboy Star’s beverage director, consulted on a menu of classic drinks names after the year they were created. The traditional recipes range from the “1927” Boulevardier to the “1944” Mai Tai, with the most recent entry, the Cosmopolitan, from 1980. Flood also came up with seven craft cocktail shots with a custom garnishes; a Margarita shot has a mezcal-soaked lime wedge while the Martini shot comes with a blue cheese-stuffed olive. Matt Hunter (Bar Basic, URBN) will manage the bar program, which includes 16 taps of exclusively local beer.
Davis Ink Ltd. designed the space, which opens up to a 500-square-foot sidewalk patio. Inside, there’s a range of communal tables, banquette seating, booths and bar height tables; a large-scale crossword puzzle dominates one wall with mirrors throughout and a cluster of overturned colanders, doubling as lampshades, hang from the ceiling.
On the roof, another 2,500-square-feet of dining and drinking will be ready to launch in June. A retractable roof will enable the space, that includes fireplaces, lounge seating, light features and giant animal-shaped topiary bushes, to be used year-round. Another kitchen will cook up a menu of 14 appetizers and salads, though the entire menu can be ordered upstairs and delivered by dumbwaiter.