Some more fine dining, because why not?

Having had a productive week and gotten a lot accomplished (and also having not spent much money through the week), I decided to go get another good dinner. Thanks again to the Lonely Planet website, I found there were a lot of higher-end restaurants in Vilnius, so I decided to give another one a shot. I discovered (and booked a dinner at) Sweet Root, in the Užupio Republic district. The dinner was stunning - easy and uncomplicated, yet very refined and delicious!

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Everything was rather calm to start. I was seated at a great table in the corner, able to look out at the whole restaurant, including the kitchen and pass. As a single diner, it was great to pass the time between courses to get to people-watch and see what was going on.

You can see on my table the card that was give (more detail on this is below). On the card was simply just a long and random list of ingredients. They weren't grouped or sorted in any way in particular. This created a kind of game during dinner - the waitstaff would bring a dish, introduce the name of the course, and inform you of its contents. Then you go back to the card and tick the items that were used, and as you went through dinner, you would slowly sort out all the ingredients that were used throughout the several courses.
During this brief quiet time before the meal, as one of the servers was refilling my wine glass, he clued me in to the style of the dinner service: They would book tables to start at certain collective times throughout the night, and then keep each table in sync with the courses as they came out. Kind of an ingenious plan: it would allow the kitchen to prep the same course 12 times, then move on to the next - rather than having the keep track of 4 or 5 separate tables and where they were through the menu.

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To get the party started, as with most any dinner: bread!

They brought me a slice of still-warm sourdough bread, topped with frozen and finely-grated butter and toasted barley. 
The effect was amazing. What looks like a fluffy topping would quickly turn into the most luscious melted butter as soon as it hit your mouth. The toasted barley added a wonderful additional crunchy texture with the soft bread.

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Next, a pair of lovely amuse-bouche.

On the left, a small pastry crust filled with peas and topped with sheep's milk cheese. On the right, a small donut, flavored with apples and topped with a couple currants. 

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As silly as it is to point it out - after the amuse-bouche, they brought silverware. Rather than just tossing a fork and knife on the table, they used these small wooden blocks to place them. Unique - memorable - fun!

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On to the first course!
Dumplings, filled with fresh cow's milk cheese and topped with cauliflower and white asparagus. Everything was cooked to perfection: the pasta dough was just perfectly al dente, the asparagus has a perfect crunch, and the cauliflower was the perfect texture in between the two.

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The second course - before (left) and after (right) - a soup/stew with carp and cucumber, topped with a disc made of kohlrabi. As you crunch the disc open, the aromas of everything mixing together hits you and you can't help but to get excited, both from the drama, the smells, and the appearance. The exquisite taste was just one of the sensory parts of the dish.

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Third course: fish!
a small piece of poached pike, along with tomato and fennel. The texture of the fish was delightfully smooth, and the creamy sauce accompanying the course added a great smoothness. Such a fresh and bright flavor, a great surprise for it being winter, when things are a little more mellow and root vegetables tend to have more of the spotlight.

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Fourth course: 
A small fried ravioli filled with chanterelle mushrooms and topped with onions and roasted spruce tips (yep, the fresh, new bits off the ends of the pine branches). Along with the onion-based broth, this was a wonderfully warming course and had all the right "comfort food" feels of a winter dish.

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Halftime show!
On the left, a beverage made from grains of the sourdough bread at the start of the meal. Think of it like a fresh/raw/unfermented wort of a beer. It's just the grain mash, without the aged yeast that create the carbonation and alcohol. From all the time I've spent homebrewing, this was both a familiar taste and something altogether new and surprising.
On the right, a pair of bites based on quail. One with lingonberries, one with beetroot and plums.

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Next! Another quail dish.
A small breast of quail, along with black currant leaves and cabbage. 
The foray into a series of proteins all based on quail was a nice common thread through the middle of the meal - so many great varieties of foods from the region accompanied by several different treatments of one thing. For a multi-course menu, it was a great juxtaposition of commonality. Again, like the fried ravioli from previous - this was a great, warming, hearty course fit for a winter meal.

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On the left, a broth made from the quail. On the right, a steamed bun. Again, delicious - warming - satisfying

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Dessert, Round 1!
Cranberries atop a gentle custard, with a curd made from lemon and catnip. Very light, very refreshing. Not at all sweet - which was a good thing. 
While definitely a dessert-type course, it was also a great palate-cleanser to depart the hearty protein of the quail and to settle things down as the meal rounded the corner to the finish.

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Second dessert!
What gets better than those two words? Second. Dessert.
This was a little more complex - a small tasting of forest berries, topped by the disc made of a fresh, sugary reduction of sea buckthorn (a kind of berry/leaf), all this on top a light merengue and a biscuit made from pumpkin.
Again, not very sweet and also a bit heartier than the previous dessert. It was a great way to complete the meal.

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To finish the meal off, I was offered these "Sweet bites." Like the amuse-bouche at the beginning, but something to add one last little flair to the meal. 
Ever a fan of the drama, the bites weren't just placed in front of me, but scattered about the table (as show in the image on the left). A small roll of lightly toasted pastry dough, a small macaroon and a small macaron (there's a difference!). All were delicious!

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On the left, below, a view from my table of the main door and the pass.
On the right, both the ingredient list-game and the actual course-by-course menu (only given to me at the conclusion of the meal). Up front, I was a little frustrated to not have the actual menu, and for the first couple courses, I was using my phone to navigate to the website. Eventually, I stopped caring about having all the information and just wanted to enjoy the food. It was delightful to disconnect from having that structure and just enjoying the courses as they all came out.

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And of course - one last surprise!
On my way out the door, the chef at the pass stopped me, thanked me for coming to enjoy their menu, and handed me this small paper cone with a few bits of fried dough - almost like a fried French toast flavor. A little treat for the walk back home!