Santee is growing a “restaurant village” throughout the city. The dining choices are changing with add-ons such as Phil’s BBQ, Pho Santee, In-N-Out Burger and places like the hyper-local Roots Community Kitchen.
So that stated, what can a late night mean to a restaurateur? Partying and drinking? No, staying up late and baking bread. Such is part of the life of Albert Ailey, one of three owners of the Santee restaurant Roots Community Kitchen. Ailey, along with co-owners Joe Hsu and his sister Therese, are dedicated to supporting local farmers and ranchers.
Santee is growing a “restaurant village” throughout the city. The dining choices are changing with add-ons such as Phil’s BBQ, Pho Santee, In-N-Out Burger and places like the hyper-local Roots Community Kitchen.
So that stated, what can a late night mean to a restaurateur? Partying and drinking? No, staying up late and baking bread. Such is part of the life of Albert Ailey, one of three owners of the Santee restaurant Roots Community Kitchen. Ailey, along with co-owners Joe Hsu and his sister Therese, are dedicated to supporting local farmers and ranchers.
Roots is being called Santee’s first farm-to table restaurant, as everything comes from within a day’s drive of the restaurant from local farms and ranches that practice organic and sustainable farming.
With the small exceptions of bread and some cheese, they make their own food. The menu changes with what is in season, as do the crops that the local farms are producing. For example pumpkin salad is available when pumpkins are in season.
Mashed potatoes, prosciutto and thyme pizza, house made fettuccini with sage Alfredo sauce, and lavender lemonade are just a sampling of other delicacies this kitchen offers up.
Their motto is, “The choice is yours; we choose local.” Ailey cites the example of Taj Farms approaching him with, “We have a pig from 4H — do you want it?” “Yes” was his answer. Fresh and local indeed.
No produce from backyard gardens is permitted. Ailey points out that all of their providers have health permits and are reputable businesses.
Some of their regular patrons, San Diego South Western Outdoor Travelers, who teach primitive skills about survival, feel comfortable enough in Roots’ roomy restaurant to hold their meetings there. A “cash mob” from West Hills High School also mobbed the place on a recent January night.
Most businesses and restaurateurs are well aware of “coupon hounds,” patrons who only visit a place if they have coupon. So Roots caters to the budget conscious by offering a variety of promotions, such as its 10 percent off during the month of February (excluding Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14).
Co-owner Hsu has a number of ideas on his plate such as developing YouTube videos from their kitchen on activities like baking bread or crusts. Hsu pointed out that their bread and pastas are homemade and would make perfect procedures to feature on their YouTube shows.
Hsu cited their slow food tasting and 4H fundraiser, Pig Pickin’ in Support of Organics in Local 4H Programming, which is detailed on the slowfoodurban.sandiego.org website as one of the activities they hosted in November. The website also displays mouth-watering pictures of what happened to 4H-er Henry Kraus’ pig. Roots did a fabulous job in preparing the meal for the attendees.
Speaking of local — many East County residents may remember Joe Hsu’s grandfather, Joe “Red” Stables, a San Diego sheriff for many years. It’s undetermined if Red talked about food with the prisoners he drove up to San Quentin but his grandson, who has a Red tattoo to honor him, talks about food with his customers and has helped establish a culture at the restaurant which promotes creativity while developing recipes.
Hsu has already hosted one cash mob with West Hills High School’s teenagers, doing quite well at mobbing and autographing the restaurant’s huge chalkboard. It’s unlikely that such cash mobs will be turned away based on the results of this, yet again, local tie-in.
Now to get back to basics —Ailey discusses the restaurant’s ideology, “Mostly it’s knowing about where your food comes from.” Watching cook Nick Ailey cutting up fresh vegetables for a soup stock illustrates how a customer will learn what fresh really means.
Enjoy dining at Roots Community Kitchen and pass on the restaurant’s goal to keep it local and suburban fresh.
Hours are Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Roots Community Kitchen is located at 9331 Mission Gorge Road, Ste. 104, in Santee. For information, call (619) 328-0876.
