Roister is a good sized place that opened in 2016 with a large bar surrounding the open kitchen that also has seating in addition to the dining room. It has been awarded one Michelin star. It is a part of the Alinea group but the food is under the supervision of Chef Brochu. We were there for lunch/brunch and I noticed the dinner menu offers some different options. The casual atmosphere had fairly loud background music and comfortable bar seating. In the back was a pile of wood that is used in some cooking. The lighting is subdued but spot lights provide plenty of light at each seat. The staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful, however the prep people that stood right in front of us seemed to have no interest in interaction with guests. The menu had a number of interesting sounding dishes so we ordered a series of plates to split.
The Cinnamon Toast was spread with foie gras mousse, strawberry jam and black pepper. It was a tasty combination of ingredients on some really nice toasted bread. The cinnamon worked well with the jam and then the foie gras added a lovely richness to it. A thumbs up here.
The Yukon Fries were Yukon Gold potatoes dusted with soy then topped with bonito flakes and served alongside tofu mayo. They were well seasoned and the bonito added to some saltiness, but it is fun the way the flakes keep moving on warm food. The potatoes were not as crisp as I would have liked but they were nicely creamy inside and fairly good when dipped in the sauce.
Anson Mills Grits were served with scallop XO, egg yolk sauce and parmesan. They were a good creamy while still having a good gritty texture and were liberally doused with parmesan. The sauce added a hint of spice and they had a buttery goodness that kept you taking another spoonful. Pretty good here.
The Fried Chicken Sandwich was served with a sunchoke hot sauce and chamomile mayo. It was a perfectly breaded and crisped moist piece of boneless white meat chicken on a puffy tender brioche bun. A little spice was in the mayo and/or finely shredded lettuce, that had a slight taste of horseradish pickles. There was also a taste of mustard on this very nice sandwich.
The Chicken and Waffles was plated with honey butter, whiskey syrup and fried chicken. It was the same nice piece of fried chicken but this time it seemed a little more breaded. It was perfectly crisp with moist meat that worked splendidly with the sweet syrup and crisp waffle doused with honey butter. It was a sweet/salty plate of tastiness. How can you go wrong when you combine two well done versions of favorite dishes? In this case they got it just right.
We were pretty full but the sweet server talked us into trying the Foie Gras candy bar for dessert. It was made with foie gras, black walnuts, pretzel and caramel and covered with chocolate. It had a good crunch and a malty chocolate with a thick wonderful layer of foie gras. A unique, novel item that was definitely worth ordering. 
