Pictured, left to right: Date and goat cheese crostini, butternut squash, walnut and spinach crostini, white bean, tomato, basil and Parmesan crostini.

At last night's pop up restaurant series at Cafe in the Park, Chef Christian Hershman celebrated the notion that simple is beautiful. Unfussy pairings met farm-raised ingredients, with Hershman, formerly of State Street, sending out wholesome foods that warmed the belly. Oven-roasted crostinis topped with sweet butternut squash and walnuts, white beans and basil, bleu cheese and dates sailed first out of the open kitchen on wood chop blocks. The standout found in the main course of brined and slow-cooked organic chicken with savory herbed skin falling from the white meat, flanked by no-salt-needed French-style whipped potatoes, roasted king oyster mushrooms, rosemary, sugar snap peas, carrots and juicy yellow corn. All in all, the meal was an exercise in unpretentious, simply good preparation and flavors. Be on the look out for next month's family style pop up. 

Pictured, left to right: Date and goat cheese crostini, butternut squash, walnut and spinach crostini, white bean, tomato, basil and Parmesan crostini.

Cafe in the Park, 2010 Adams Ln., Sarasota, 941-361-3032.