Bluestem Brasserie Lights Up Market Street

With its sleek design, heated rooftop patio, and great location, Bluestem Brasserie is a delicious gem. It is fast becoming the go-to neighborhood restaurant in an area rich with cultural, shopping, and business activity. The menu boasts typical brasserie food and takes its name from the high-end grass preferred by sustainable cattle ranchers.

Just walking into the restaurant is a treat. At lunch, hear wonderful jazz and marvel at the end-grain flooring made from reclaimed Indonesian wood and the concrete bar top that has embedded crystal rods lit from underneath with LED lights. The sweeping staircase and 18-foot ceiling create a dramatic effect, but with the warm colors and comfortable furniture, the atmosphere is very casual.

The diverse menu has something for everyone. Starters include steamed mussels and house-cured tasso, steak tartare, and a luscious watermelon salad with mint feta and Castelvetrano olives. With a focus on the whole animal, the house-made charcuterie offers calf’s liver sausage, pig’s head terrine, and duck rillettes served with sweet mustard pickles and a wonderful fruit chutney. For an entrée, choose from “plats du jour” or other dishes like the delectable chickpea cake “Panisse” served with eggplant caponata, romesco sauce and fromage blanc, or the cavatelli pasta with rabbit ragu, sweet peas, and aged goat cheese. Don’t miss the creative cocktails or wine from one of the 12 on tap, such as the O’Shaugnessy 2008 Petit Verdot and the Gotham 2009 Zinfandel.

Be sure to save room for dessert and indulge in such sweet treats as the “Honolulu Hangover” (ultra-moist chocolate rum layer cake, toasted coconut and marshmallow meringue) or “Stop and Smell the Roses” (organic vanilla ice cream profiteroles, strawberry, rhubarb compote, and a phenomenal crème rose.

Bluestem Brasserie is fun, upbeat and serving food you’ll want to come back for. Eat, drink and enjoy the neighborhood.