Grant Butler, The Oregonian. - "When Brad Root opened his namesake restaurant in 2003, he intentionally left out the apostrophe in "Roots." Make no mistake about it: This is his kitchen, and it produces hearty dishes with creative flavor combinations that are his personal signature. But the restaurant's apostrophe-free name gets at his core philosophy of using only the freshest seasonal ingredients from the Pacific Northwest - stuff from the root source. The menu features pristine mussels from Puget Sound, sweet onions straight out of Walla Walla, and pork, chicken and beef that are culled from the finest local organic farms. There's similar thinking at work with the tightly focused wine list, heavy with Washington state syrahs and cabernets, including a number of unusual finds. Clearly the homegrown approach is clicking. The dining room is usually packed, even on weeknights, an indication that it's drawing locals as well as diners who are rooted elsewhere.

Eat: Dungeness crab salad with avocados and paper-thin radish slices; mussels steamed with garlic, shallots and white wine; roasted halibut with gnocchi; lamb chops with homemade lamb sausage.
Drink: The cocktail menu employs some creative mixology, and the wine list is one of the best regional collections of bottles around."