There are a couple things I like best about this dish, and it starts with the name. When our decidedly vegetarian writer came back from a Fig Tree visit espousing the goodness of the beet carpaccio she had eaten, I, of course, heard “beef” and did a double-take. But naturally, this dish is all root veggie and no land animal. With a mixture of red and gold perfectly-procured beets, the dish is dressed with a cucumber-orange agrodolce, flavorful dill pesto, creamy goat cheese, and a perfectly tart elderflower vinaigrette. The result is a restaurant salad elevated way beyond what you expect from a starter plate. Like most things Chef Greg Zanitsch does, the beet carpaccio is memorably delicious and surprisingly unique.
