Any news on Spork?
Another newcomer to the Mission, Spork is located on Valencia at Liberty, the old KFC location that was going to be a Hawaiian BBQ for a second. I admit to being mildly obsessed with the location, as a chain folding always seems like too much to hope for (I am equally obsessed with the new Cafe Arguello spot).
Anyway, has anyone been? http://sporksf.com/
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Lots of negative reports above to contrast with last night's bunrab post. Anyone been lately?
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re: Mick Ruthven
mariacarmen
Aug 23, 2007 11:54 AM
I haven't been in a few weeks, but i have to say i agree with bunrab and not with the above posts, except for the burger issue - mine was overcooked as well. i had asked for it medium rare, they did not tell me that the chef does it his/her way and not to order. i did not send it back. for all that it was overdone, i found it flavorful and juicy, and i liked the onion marmalade. the potatoes for me make the dish worth $14 - crunchy yet tender and perfectly seasoned. i have also tried and really enjoyed the between-the-sheets pasta with the mushroom sauce. i found the pasta silken, and really enjoyed the sauce with a bit of cream fraiche on top. i think my favorite dish there was the peaches and cream starter, a goat cheese cream topping very fresh slices of perfectly ripe peach, with a bit of watercress salad. the savory creamy cheese went perfectly with the sweetness of the peach. i've had the signature mussles avec spork, and enjoyed that, tho i did find the pork a bit dry. but the rouille was good and the mussels flavorful. the idea of mussels with pork is not a new one, but the texture of carnitas-like pork paired with mussels was successful, i'm also a fan of the rolls served with a slightly sweet honey butter, and agree that if you pay for them, you'll eat them. they're of a nice enough quality that you don't them to sit and go to waste.
i have also found the service attentive and friendly.
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Just went there last night with a friend. The food is well-prepared, but on balance, I'd say the place is heavier on style than substance; the menu is an exercise in creative writing that the food doesn't really bear out. For example, we started with the shrimp and chips, which is billed as "gulf prawns, housemade potato chips, american accoutrements". Sounds exciting, right? Actually, it's shrimp cocktail and potato chips. Obviously, we should have asked the waiter exactly what it was - I was thinking a fish n' chips type thing with whatever "american accoutrements" could be, homemade pickles, maybe? Maybe I'm crazy, but isn't it a tad pretentious to call a little dish of cocktail sauce and horseradish "american accoutrements"? The inside-out burger was tasty, as was the "between the sheets with champignons" - but really nothing special. Given the description of the food and the prices, you'd expect creative California food on par with say, Blue Plate, which it unfortunately falls short of. So, not a bad restaurant as long as you manage expectations.
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I ate there last night with a friend, and must say that while it was good, it wasn't great, and we're not particularly eager to return.
We had started with the Bibb salad, which was good.
I get the inside-out burger. I asked for it cooked rare, but the server insisted that they don't take temperature requests, and that the chef cooks it perfectly. I elected not to push it.
When it came, I saw that, well, the burger was over cooked. I like my ground beef red, juicy, flavorful. This was in that pink-to-gray state, and while it was good, it could have been better.
It was also definitely not $14 worth of burger good.
And I have trouble believing they charge $5 for a cup of coffee, when you can get it for $1.50 by walking a hundred feet down the street to Ritual.
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re: peterme
bernalgirl
May 9, 2007 10:39 PM
Odd to put something on the menu that people are used to ordering to a certain doneness and then refusing to do so. Seems like that's taking the "vision thing" a bit far.
Thanks for reporting back!
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re: ML8000
rworange
May 10, 2007 10:50 AM
Yeah, I gotta agree. Reading that my teeth started to grate. I'm not often picky on things and tell the kitchen to do it the way the chef thinks best ... but not to have the option ... arrogant indeed. It's like restaurants not putting salt shakers on tables beacuse 'chef knows best'.
Hopefully it was an off server, but it doesn't make me want to rush to the place.
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re: peterme
Morton the Mousse
May 10, 2007 11:48 AM
That's just...wrong!
I'm all for giving up control to the chef, but grilled red meat doneness is such a matter of personal preference that there is no such thing as a universal "perfect" burger. Personally, I like my burgers seared, and anything past rare is unacceptable, but I recognize that not everyone shares my passion for bloody meat. If you're not willing to cook a burger to the customer's desire, you should take it off the menu, because you're going to wind up with a lot of dissatisfied customers.
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readingstand
Apr 21, 2007 01:03 AM
I just had dinner at the bar and greatly enjoyed it. I agree with haikureviews's capsule: "food is excellent and the staff is super friendly."
I'll start with the latter, as I'm very much an afficianado of restaurants as social institutions with food. (E.g., after having gone to Zuni every few weeks for a few years, always after 11 when other places are closed, I stopped going cold once I found Nopa, with its similar hours and vastly more welcoming, individualizedly friendly vibe--even though its food is a notch less good.) During my Spork visit (solo, which does make interaction easier), the chef introduced himself and chatted a little, the bartender was extremely friendly and genuinely interested in how I liked everything, how they were doing, etc., and one server made sure I was being tended to and established a friendly rapport even though she had no official reason to interact with me at all. Very impressive.
As for food, on the bartender's rec, I started with shrimp & avocado, Louie style, which came in a faux cup of endive, and was an excellent mix of very fresh ingredients, a nice contrast of textures and colors, and strong flavors. Perhaps a bit oversauced for my taste, but only to quibble level. I then had the "meat and potatoes": braised beef, mashed potatoes, and carrots vichy in a sort of deconstructed stew. (Not that they'd been stewed together, that is; it was the classic components of a stew prepared separately and brought together on the plate.) They'd braised the beef with paprika and something else that I think--though here my never-very-discerning palate may betray me--was citrusy . . . in any event, it made for a strong, bright, upfront flavor that contrasted nicely with the somewhat falling apart, earthy stewiness of the meat and potatoes. The carrots were also softened to a degree that harmonized with the M & P, but by no means mushy. Dessert was stawberries with mascarpone and marsala in a little bowl (and with a spork!)--simple and very tasty (and one of two screw-up-proof, satisfying, simple desserts, to which they've made the wise choice, imho, to limit themselves in the restaurant's early days).
All in all, I'll definitely fulfill the staff's repeatedly and seemingly very sincerly expressed hope that they'll see me again soon.p.s. I didn't get any, but they french-press coffee from (and share an employee with) Ritual Roasters next door, so I've no doubt that they make a good cup (for anyone who hasn't, say, already had coffee *at* Ritual an hour before they visit Spork).
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re: Haikureviews
Frosty Melon
Apr 19, 2007 04:46 PM
What did you have? I'm intrigued but the menu seems awfully limited.
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farmersdaughter
Apr 16, 2007 09:17 AM
There was a small sign posted on the window that said they would be open to the public on April 17.
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re: farmersdaughter
bernalgirl
Apr 16, 2007 11:55 AM
Thanks for the update, I had heard April 10th. And yes, I think the name must be a tongue in cheek reference to the prior occupant.
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