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Carrying on Allston’s veg-centric legacy
Order has been restored in Allston’s veg-dominated Union Square as another veggie-centric restaurant opened its doors last week. Located in the former home of vegan pizzeria Peace O’Pie, Root is the second project from Deena Jalal and housed right next to the location of her first endeavor, FoMu.
“The philosophy of Root is sort of like the philosophy of FoMu: accidentally animal free. At the end of the day it’s all about the food itself and not about what it is or what it isn’t,” says Jalal.
Root’s menu contains sandwiches, salads, fresh-squeezed juices, and weekend brunch; vegetables are sourced locally when at all possible.
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“The stuff that we can source locally, we will. The other things that we won’t be able to, we’ll be cautious of what we’re sourcing and stay organic when possible.”
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Photo via Root's Facebook page.
Their burgers are made in-house (black bean and quinoa), as are all of the condiments: ketchup, aiolis, and dressings included. Apart from their house Root burger, the menu highlights includes an Eggplant Caprese (crispy eggplant, tomato basil, creamy thyme sauce), BBQ Portobella Sandwich (Portobello, BBQ sauce, red cabbage slaw), Sweet Potato Quesadilla, and Jalapeno Hushpuppies. Root chose to serve all their sandwiches on local favorite Iggy’s buns or organic wraps. Brunch offerings include waffles with seasonal fruit sauces, pancakes with chocolate syrup, and tofu scrambles loaded with fresh vegetables.
“The other thing we were mindful of is minimizing the amount of things on the menu that were processed,” says Jalal.
“We won’t be using any processed products or dairy-like products. We’re showcasing the natural deliciousness of food that is naturally occurring rather than trying to manipulate it too much.”
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Photo via Root's Facebook page.
While Root is a vegan restaurant, Deena went out of her way to design a menu that would make eaters across the board feel welcome.
“We want to do really approachable, consciously sourced familiar food to everyone, not just vegans.
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Curried Quinoa Salad. Photo via Root's Facebook page.
We want it to be a place where a group of people can go, regardless of their food preferences, and feel really comfortable with the menu and have something delicious that they want to eat,” she says. “As we designed the menu we took some of our favorite flavor inspirations, local or international, took them and applied them into dishes that are seasonal and all plant based.”
Peace O’Pie was forced to close its doors during February following “unforeseen consequences” from the damage that occurred during a winter storm. Jalal took the opportunity to transform the defunct space completely, sourcing reclaimed wood from Cambridge’s Longleaf Lumber for the floors, benches, and barnwood front counter. A local artisan made the bussing station and all of the copper in the restaurant is hand welded and recycled.
“When Peace O’Pie closed, my husband and I saw that the veg-centric legacy wasn’t going to go on and that was our rationale for opening. We’re both wicked foodies, we like food, we’re really conscious of what we put in our bodies.
We thought it was a really good opportunity to actually do something with that space. We felt there was probably a need.”
ROOT. 487 CAMBRIDGE ST., ALLSTON. @ROOTBOSTON. ROOTBOSTON.COM.