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When Root opened in 2011, it was New Orleans’ most ambitious restaurant since Hurricane Katrina, with unusual menu items and preparations more often seen in the fine kitchens of Paris or Chicago than in the Warehouse District.

“We thought it was going to be a huge gamble,” says Phillip Lopez, whose unusual cuisine — dazzlingly composed salads, “foielly pops” (foie gras lollipops), Cohiba-smoked scallops served in a cigar box — quickly earned him national attention and devotion from local foodies who weren’t intimidated by such creative fare.

To fully appreciate the cooking of Root’s chef-owner, Phillip Lopez, it’s necessary to surrender yourself to his ambition. This means exposing yourself to the crosswind of exhilaration and mystification that is both the price and reward of eating here. Even the most elemental food on the bill of fare – sausage and salumi, for instance […]

Trust New Orleans to knock this out of the park. The Big Easy is arguably the culinary capitol of the whole damn world - there, we said it, and we like controversy. But a town for late-night eating it was not, until recently. Chef Philip Lopez opened the super-ambitious Root in the increasingly fashionable Warehouse District in Downtown New Orleans. It’s a temple to experimental cooking and unusual techniques and tasting menus. On the weekends it stays open until 2 AM - meaning even late at night you can indulge in dishes like Cohiba smoked scallops with chorizo dust, caramelized cauliflower, pimentón patatas bravas and black garlic choucroute. Or for the sweet tooth, opt for a “Yorkie,” chocolate-covered, housemade peppermint patties with mint chocolate chip ice cream, “Coco Puffs” and minted milk.

At New Orleans’ Root, whimsy and wit on the table. Two years ago this November, Chef Phillip Lopez opened Root, a restaurant unlike anything New Orleans had seen: a funhouse of modernist cuisine, where the dishes would be both delicious and gleefully wacky on the palate as well as the plate.

A funky, intimate bistro with open rafter ceilings, an exposed brick wall, rustic wood beams and the vivid green tangled root patterned chairs, emit an organic, natural aura. The non-conventional, frequently changing menu is divided into categories of Socials, Beginnings, Principals and Endings. Designed for the adventurous diner, where sharing is encouraged, a meal here […]

Wreathed by a vapor cloud from a vat of liquid nitrogen, New Orleans chef Phillip Lopez assembled his “Living Terrarium” salad — a provocative mix of flowers, foie gras and dozens of other ingredients — that drew big crowds at the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience in May.

By successfully launching a restaurant, Root, and with another on the way, Square Root, Chef Phillip Lopez has demonstrated his ambition, creativity, and prowess in the kitchen. But Phillip is happiest when cooking hearty meals for his family

Indeed, it’s an exciting time to be in New Orleans, deemed America’s fastest-growing city by the U.S. Census Bureau, attracting a ton of arrivistes, and redefining itself on the fly. Root reflects the changes as new bars, restaurants, clubs, and galleries take shape here.