Totally radical

Chef James Rigato wants you to know how much of a locavore he is. He lists his regional purveyors on the Root's website, up to and including his recycler and his glass guy (Libbey in Toledo). The tasting menu lists Michigan sources from Kalamazoo to Detroit (though coffee isn't grown in K'zoo — and R. Hirt Jr. didn't make those cheeses himself). If you order shrimp linguine, the server will tell you the critters spent their early days in salt-water tanks in Okemos.

The Root's owners first looked to open in Royal Oak but ended up, in May, in way exurban White Lake because of a good deal on a liquor license. The location hasn't hurt business, which was quite healthy on a Tuesday night; on a Saturday, it can be hard to get a reservation till late. There's a satisfied, bustling atmosphere, with no one dressed up.

Rigato's imaginative food is hands-down splendid. There are only seven entrées (roast chicken, trout, pork shoulder, gnocchi, shrimp, beef and pumpkin pot pie), but you'll find 11 starters and seven $4 sides, including cheese grits and corn on the cob.

In his heartfelt case against Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer declares that the only disadvantage of vegetarianism is that "your life will not be as rich." He wouldn't say that if he'd dined on Rigato's vegan pumpkin pot pie, which boasts a lot more umami than plenty of meat dishes do. It's filled with roasted pumpkin purée — it's the roasting that makes the difference, smoked farro (a wheat-like grain that the New York Times called "more elegant than earnest"), parsnips, potatoes and lots of kale, in a flaky crust.

Rainbow trout from Wisconsin ("your fish are swimming when we receive your order") have a crisp skin and are served with a side that would ordinarily make me turn tail — creamed corn — but it's a marvelous pairing.

Even better is that Okemos shrimp linguine, a masterful combination of textures; the whole dish is infused with the taste of smoky house-made bacon, and pecorino adds some nuttiness.

Pork shoulder, which can be grossly fatty, is trimmed down here and braised in cider, creating lots of good gravy; it's served with cheddar grits that melt in the mouth. 

All those entrées are first-class, or you could just dine on an assortment of starters: pork pasties, crab cakes, baked Michigan Brie, scallops, three salads. The scallops (not from Michigan) are perfectly seared, served on brown butter and a white bean purée, with a sliver of grapefruit for tartness, and sprinkled with shavings of the top part of Brussels sprouts. In keeping with the "know your food" theme, your server imparts interesting tidbits about each dish.

> Email Jane Slaughter