Rooted in a Sea of Purple and Red

I circled the parking lot three times before finding a parking place. Whassup with that?

After all, this a brand new restaurant. Couldn’t have been open more than a month. I thought only us die-hard foodies had heard of it.

So I pushed in the door, and uh-o. The place was packed. It wasn’t even noon yet.

“Table for two?”

Maitress d’ looked worried. “Have reservations?”

“No.”

She bit her lip, ran her finger up and down the seating chart, then, ah-hah. “Follow me.”

Phew. She led me past the bar, stacks of logs, the enormous wood-fire grill, wooden slats of the partition, turned a corner, and Holy Schmoly! A sea of purple and red. There, taking up virtually the entire dining room was –you guessed it, the Red Hat Society. I thought they were some urban myth. A crock. But o no, some 25 elderly ladies, all in purple dresses and brilliant red hats.

We doggie-paddled past and around the society, where a tiny table for two sat lonely and waiting. The maitress d’ told me it was one of only two tables left in the whole restaurant. Her eyeballs rolled to the sea of purple and red.

I waited while LeAnne circled the lot four times, before finding a place, and joining me.

We ordered a glass of wine (her, proseco; I, pinot gris), and then we perused the menu.

It was our first chance to sample the fare of Brad Root’s new venture, Lapellah. Ever since opening Roots, his first sleek and elegant Clark County restaurant, Brad Root has proven the adage; ‘if you build it, they will come.’

Or more precisely, if you put something of quality in the oft maligned market of Vancouver, Wa., people will come. Even dressed in purple and red. Across the parking lot from Roots, next came the superb 360 Pizzeria, an adventurous, ‘trattoria’.

And now, Lapellah, in the Grand Central complex near downtown Vancouver.

Onto the food. While the lunch menu is rife with ‘comfort food’; pot pies, steak and fries, meatloaf sandwich, tuna melt, fish and chips, mac and cheese, there is also a definite nod to N’Orleans cuisine, with Fried Oyster Po’ Boy, Jambalaya, beignets, and gumbo.

LeAnne settled on the cornmeal roasted trout, which was excellent. I had two starters, Oysters Rockefeller and Savory Shrimp Beignets in a red pepper remoulade. Both wonderful.

The prices are more than reasonable, with nothing on the lunch menu over $12.

The wine list is brief, but more than sufficient. I finished up with a glass of Barnard Griffin Syrah, which to my palate is over-oaked (but don’t listen to me, I’ve become a no-oak snob).

Meanwhile, the Red Hat Society finished up their meal, and the leader stood and led them all in bizarre ‘whoosh’ and ‘oooo’ chant. Beats me.

At least they found Lapellah.