Rochester Park can do no wrong, or so it seems. When was the last time you went up there and had a bad meal or a shitty night out at one of its restaurants and watering holes? Like never, right? Now, one of its pioneering establishments has given itself a reboot of sorts by introducing a new dining concept known as Roast. With a new executive chef in tow (one of the reasons for this revamp), One Rochester continues to set the pace as far as classy gastrobars go in its latest guise.
We made our way up here with dusk falling across the city and had some killer sundowners to begin with. Now, the thing with the new concept is that there are a couple of ways to go about gorging on its excellent offerings. There is the sharing menu, which starts off with a Nibble Platter, a serving of delicious cured meats, foie gras parfait, potato skins with sour cream and lovely stuffed olives, to name a few.
This is then followed by mains like pasta, risotto (the seared king scallops with smoked sea urchin risotto is simply wondrous), roast beef, fish (the grilled cod fillet with fennel, orange and pistachio salad is a heady combination of zesty, crunchy and mushy) or chicken before a yummy dessert serving.
The portions are flavorful, fresh and simple, with inputs kept to the bare minimum—no clusterf**king of herbs, spices, ingredients and creams here. But if you’re like us, (being greedy for the sake of research), then try the fantastic pan fried foie gras with catalunya spices, sweet and sour cherries and the hefty ‘OR’ burger with ground Angus beef, vine-ripened tomato, fontina cheese, roast shallots and tarragon butter and fries and round it all off with the Aussie-influenced pavlova with vanilla cream, poached strawberries and passion fruit coulis for a stunning night out under the stars.
