Oak Park

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Where the garden shapes the plate

At 3901 Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, Oak Park operates from a straightforward conviction: the best ingredients come from as close as possible, and the best cooking comes from knowing exactly what to do with them. Executive Chef Ian Robertson and his team bring experience earned in New York and Chicago kitchens to a deeply local context, partnering with Iowa farmers and harvesting seasonal crops from the restaurant's own adjacent culinary garden. Those ingredients — ramps, morels, bok choy, edible prairie plants — move directly from the soil into dishes on an ever-evolving dinner menu.

The result is modern American cuisine that reads as both technically ambitious and genuinely rooted in place. Small plates like Morels on Toast with ramp and pecan pesto, or Beef Carpaccio with pickled ramps and tonnato sauce, show the kitchen's range. From the Josper charcoal grill come cuts like a Ribeye al Andrés, inspired by chef José Andrés, finished with poached oysters, romesco, and triple-cooked potatoes. Executive Pastry Chef Jess Robertson closes the meal with desserts that balance refinement and restraint — a Honey Crème Brûlée with Earl Grey ice cream, a Chocolate S'mores Soufflé, and for the table willing to commit, a $100 Banana Split finished with armagnac caviar and shaved chocolate truffle.

A wine program that earned national recognition

Oak Park's wine list earned Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence in 2024 — recognition that reflects the depth and seriousness of what certified sommelier Carly Dascoli has built. The program spans more than 25 individual vintages, with bottles dating to 1990, covering every major region and grape variety of note. By-the-glass selections range from a Pertois-Moriset Champagne and a Domaine Pinson Chablis Premier Cru to a 2013 López de Heredia Rioja and a Bergström Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley. Suggested pairings are curated to guide diners toward something new without pressure.

The bar program, led by manager Rick, draws from the same garden-forward sensibility — cocktails occasionally use ingredients harvested steps away, and the spirit selection runs from house-label bourbon and single barrel whiskey to a thoughtful gin collection that has become the subject of its own dedicated tasting dinners.

The Chef's Table and beyond

For four to six guests, the Chef's Table places diners inside the working kitchen for a tasting menu crafted entirely by Chef Ian Robertson, paired with wines selected by the sommelier. It is the restaurant's most immersive expression of what modern American cuisine can be in Des Moines — and the experience Oak Park describes as one guests will recall for decades.

Beyond the Chef's Table, the restaurant hosts a rotating calendar of special dinners: wine producer evenings, spirit-focused tasting menus, collaborative dinners with guest chefs, and seasonal garden experiences that begin with a tour of the on-site prairie before the first course is served. The front-of-house team — what Oak Park calls its "culinary attendants" — navigates all of it with the kind of attentiveness that turns a well-executed meal into something more lasting.

Oak Park has drawn attention from USA TODAY's Restaurants of the Year list and has seen its chefs named among James Beard Award semifinalists. The recognition is consistent with what the restaurant has quietly built on Ingersoll Avenue: a fine dining destination that takes Iowa seriously.