Sean and I had a wonderful dinner and date night earlier this fall at Redbird, Zeb Stevenson’s new restaurant on the Westside in the old Bacchanalia space. We sat the kitchen bar and had a nice view of the entire restaurant and the flurry of cooking and plating activity. The little red bird was right next to me at kitchen’s counter.

The space is beautiful. Clean and bright, with a touch of warmth from wood tones. Now that we’re parents, I noticed that at the time of our 6.30 dinner reservation there were several families dining. There weren’t small children, but there were definitely tables with pre-tweens. It was really lovely to see a trendy restaurant in town be family-friendly. 

Full view of the restaurant!

And view of the kitchen, and bread and dessert station.

Cheers to date night! Cava for me and a gin cocktail for Sean.

The menu is “vegetable forward”…meaning, it has a lot of vegetable dishes on it. We decided to try three vegetable dishes, one main meat course, and a dessert.

We started with the seared cauliflower with grains, cashews and coriander dressing. It was vegan and was really nice. Perfectly cooked, with the grains and nuts adding chewiness and crunch. The sauce was very light – this was overall a solid starter.

Our next dish was the Roasted beets with basil dressing, blue cheese, endive and sourdough. I typically avoid the beet dish at restaurants because it’s pretty much always the same – roasted beets with goat cheese, walnuts, local green. This dish was SO unique and absolutely wonderful with each bite seemingly offering something new in taste and texture. The basil dressing brightened the entire dish, and the “sourdough” were small, crispy balls on top that were so interesting with the creamy blue cheese. Stellar dish. Memorable. 

It’s difficult to resist duck on a menu. The Miso-brined duck breast with roasted vegetable demi glace was our choice for the only meat dish we had. It was very well-executed and perfectly cooked, especially the crispy skin on top. The fat flavor from the skin balanced well with the gamey-ness of the meat.

With our duck, we ordered the crispy fried mushrooms with spiced chickpea batter and herbed garlic dipping sauce. Also tremendous. Indulgent yet still vegan and gluten-free! And that sauce…yum!

Chocolate ganache cake finished the meal for us and it was divine. Rich and creamy, topped with marinated cherries and accompanied by fresh whipped cream – everything you’d want in a chocolate dessert.

Overall, a wonderful experience. Highly recommend. Would return.