Oak Park restaurant opened in Des Moines. Here's a first taste of the menu and what to expect.
The long wait for the new American restaurant that uses French techniques on its menu ended on Tuesday night when Oak Park opened on Ingersoll Avenue. Reservations for one of the most anticipated new restaurants of the year in Des Moines opened last week with many eager diners booking tables through the end of 2023.
On Tuesday, the restaurant glowed from its perch at the corner of 39th Street with tables filled with customers, each at a different stage in their meal. The yellow lights off the transom windows above the bar area softly let the neighborhood know — Oak Park is open.
Rarely has a restaurant opening in Des Moines felt so calm, with nary a hair out of place or linen askew on a table. Looking into the kitchen from outside through the big picture glass window that gives diners at the chef’s table an alternate view, the kitchen staff seemed to reach their elegant dance of cooking, plating and sending out dishes in an orderly fashion. Some even laughed, enjoying the first night of service.
Inside, owner Kathy Fehrman and her husband Bill warmly greeted diners as they walked through the doors.
But for all of the appearances, is Oak Park really worth the hype? Does it live up to expectations of a high-end dining experience worthy of a special occasion, celebration or even just for a glass of wine at the bar?
Let’s find out.
The setting at Oak Park
We sat in the east solarium next to the sideboard from West End Architectural Salvage on buttery leather chairs you never wanted to leave. Our crisp soft-white table cloth featured gold and white charger plates with silverware on either side, a small water glass, a wine glass, and a neatly folded napkin. A candle holder from the Prairie school of architecture sat in the middle.
The restaurant felt as if it had been in the neighborhood for years. Everyone moved at a smooth pace, neither in a hurry nor hustling to serve the next table. Servers patrolled the room with water, hostesses noted the number of diners still eating, and managers touched tables, checking on each course.
What to order at Oak Park
Admittedly, we ordered much more than a normal couple would. After our drinks came out (I had the Oak Park Manhattan made with the restaurant’s own whisky made at the The Foundry Distillery in Valley Junction and my friend ordered the Garden Lemonade, a thoughtful non-alcoholic drink that used ingredients from the neighboring garden), an amuse bouche, a gift from the chef, greeted us. The crab croquette with a smoked aioli was the perfect three bites to set the tone for the meal.
We started with gnocchi, a stunning dish with soft pillows in a buttery lemon sauce with a pretty potato tuile covering the dish like a piece of lace. The kitchen uses the entire potato in the dish, using the skin for the tuile.
We continued with the butternut squash and king crab bisque, a silky smooth soup with flakes of tender crab throughout. Not too much, not too little and it had a nice earthy quality to it.
We also shared the roasted beet and avocado salad with tender quarters of golden and red beets and a lime vinaigrette. Everything had a fresh brightness to it, tasting as if it came in from the garden that afternoon.
Some people turn their noses down at paying for bread service, but the brioche with a whipped vindaloo curry butter on the side was worth every bite. It tasted as light as air in the middle with just enough light crunch on the crust. My bet is you won’t forget the taste of the heavenly butter.
For entrees, we opted for the pan-roasted duck breast and the bacon-glazed pork chop. That pork chop is the best thing I’ve eaten this year. Maybe even last year, too. It was so tender, and the bacon glaze over the top made every bite better than the last. Oak Park uses a Josper charcoal oven from Spain to cook its meats over oak and brings in Berkshire pigs raised in Iowa for its pork.
One note, you'll notice that many of the ingredients used at the restaurant come from local producers, whether it's Grade A Gardens in Urbandale or Dogpatch Urban Gardens in Des Moines, as well as those who provide the Berkshire pigs, herbs and more. Each gets recognition on the menu.
The duck breast included two healthy slabs cooked medium rare with a pork sausage on the side and a cherry demi-glace. Again, a deft hand cooked this dish to the perfect temperature, and you can taste the quality of the ingredients in every bite.
For dessert, we split the pavlova, a soft-baked meringue with mascarpone mousse inside and a fig sorbet on the side, a delightful way to end dinner.
More: Oak Park, Des Moines' most anticipated new restaurant of the year, opens on Oct. 17 on Ingersoll
What was unexpected at Oak Park?
Seeing all of the thoughtful touches come together really made a difference and will resonate with diners, whether it's the glass bottle for tap water that matched the rocks tumbler and came with a stopper, the server using a leather notepad to take our order, or the sharp houndstooth vest with the restaurant’s signature green tie the staff wore.
Fehrman and her staff even spent months fine-tuning the hunter green leather-bound menu covers made by Fontenelle Supply Co. in the East Village. Everything here has an air of class and elegance without the snobbery. But the term "approachable" rings true, whether you are inquiring about something on the menu, asking for a recommendation, or making a special request.
Diners could easily make this a weekly stop on their rotation of restaurants, go here for a night out celebrating, take a client you want to impress, or bring someone for a special date and know that the experience of Oak Park will be a layer to the memory. Even the bar area in the center of the restaurant offers a tad more casual feel to dining.
While my dinner did cost more than $200 with tip, keep in mind that I tried a lot of dishes on purpose. You could skip the appetizer and dessert, opt for one of the $4 desserts instead (more on that to come in a future article) or not order the soup and salad and still have a filling and memorable meal. I didn’t even try any of the wines or additional cocktails.
More: Get to know Oak Park, the new American restaurant opening on Ingersoll Avenue in 2023
So is Oak Park worth the hype?
Absolutely. Fehrman and her team of executive chef Ian Robertson, executive pastry chef Jess Robertson, general manager Damon Murphy, director of operations Billy Dohrmann, and wine director Sam Tuttle have a winner on their hands that brings Des Moines into the national conversation of great restaurants. It’s that good.
More: Meet the man who plans to stock Oak Park restaurant with 7,000 bottles of wine
Where to find Oak Park
Location: 3901 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-620-2185 or oakparkdsm.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Reservations: Exploretock.com.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What’s on the Oak Park restaurant menu in Des Moines?
