Bluestem

Bluestem Restaurant Review:

Hometown boy Colby Garrelts left Kansas City to work in top restaurants in Chicago and Los Angeles. He returned with Megan Garrelts, wife and pastry chef, to open Bluestem, a chic-yet-welcoming restaurant in Westport. Bluestem offers four prix-fixe menus of three, five, seven and 12 courses. Garrelts signature dish is a torchon of foie gras. Menus change weekly, but both beef and fish figure prominently, as do local fruits and vegetables. Dishes may include a salad of crispy sweetbreads, slow-roasted shrimp, watercress, apple, squash and pickled shallots; Akaushi Wagyu beef; and local vegetable pot-au-feu. But for something extra-hearty, choose the prime rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding. Looking for something lighter? There’s a separate menu in the wine lounge (we like the truffled pomme frites with six dipping sauces). Megan oversees the line-up of desserts; look for the likes of white coffee panna cotta with crushed biscotti and passion fruit sherbet. The restaurant also does Sunday brunch, with upscale twists on sturdy Midwestern fare like sausage gravy and biscuits. Signature cocktails include the Moscow Mojito, made with rum, vodka and ginger beer or the Signature B, crafted with ice wine, Grey Goose Le Citron, Moscato d’Asti and blueberry ice. During the gracious happy hour from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, all food in the lounge is half-price.