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The final piece of The Hairy Lobster puzzle falls in place today. Located at 900 NW 11th Ave. in the Pearl, The Hairy Lobster softly opens tomorrow at 4:30 p.m., and the below menus reveal the highly anticipated desserts of pastry master Mellisa Root and the "heritage" shared plates of husband David Root.
Mellisa—whom David refers to as "the famous one in the family"—honed her pastry skills at Thomas Keller's Per Se and Madera (a Palo Alto restaurant with one Michelin star until last fall), and she's making both breads and desserts at The Hairy Lobster. Prepare for jalapeno beignets and Parker House rolls with sea salt and whipped honey, and the dessert offerings show a love of technical baking and guilty pleasure combinations; for instance, The Peanut Butter Honey "Samich" comes with whole wheat cake, "bee local" gelato, and candied pean, and you'll also find Lemon Chiffon Pie and Sticky Toffee Pudding.
The Hairy Lobster's menu of "Old World comfort food" is also ambitious, combining what David calls "a melting pot" of flavors, as exemplified by dishes like the Maine Lobster Cubano, which touts barbecue pork with a lobster nage aioli. The menu is broken up into three sections—Water, Garden, and Barn—and all of the dishes can be prepared in platters for sharing between four to six people. David's cooking experience includes a stint as executive chef for Todd English's bluezoo. Starting tomorrow, The Hairy Lobster will be open for dinner starting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Hairy Lobster Dessert Menu, March 2016
