The Culinary Works

Spruce in San Francisco
3640 Sacramento Street
Sanfrancisco, CA 94118

http://www.sprucesf.com/

Butter poached lobster.
Three sweet little words and when you put them together, I am all systems go! Nestled in the lovely Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco , Spruce is a gem.

The restaurant is gorgeous with a very inviting, yet modern elegance that lets you know you are about to have an adventure worth spending a little of your hard earned cash! It was my 15 year anniversary and I wanted to go to one of my "wish list" places to eat and after reading several articles about Spruce, it was next up on list. As I looked at the cocktail menu I was blown away by the innovative and delicious sounding cocktails -- my only disappointment was that I was not going to be able to sit at the bar all evening tasting most of them! With names like Country Cobbler (vanilla infused bourbon, nocino Monteverdi, peach, lemon and molasses) or Honey Elderflower Daiquiri (mount gay rum, St. Germaine liqueur, honey water and lime) - the precision and care that the bar staff prepared and poured these cocktails made you sit up and take notice. If the word gorgeous had a taste associated with it, Country Cobbler would be it. They also have a nice bar menu for those stopping in for drinks and a snack after work, before a show, or a starting a nice evening out right.

Spruce is one of those places where every single employee makes you feel welcomed. The hostess was walking back from seating a table and stopped to fill our champagne glasses...they made us feel taken care of but not overly so – it was a perfect balance. The sommelier was warm, funny and made you feel comfortable asking questions.

Now to our dinner -- let me just say -- I am never more content than when I try something new and am so blown away that three days later, I am still thinking about it. So in recent years I have learned to love beets. As a child, I only knew of beets in the can -- never had I been exposed to a fresh beet. But when they started showing up on the foodie scene, I gave them a try. Now, when I see beets on a menu – I am all over it. I had the beet and pear salad, paper thin slices of yellow beets and pears with tasty herb vinaigrette. I can taste the surprise in my mouth right now. Wow. Back to that teaser - the butter poached lobster – incredible tender flavorful lobster....and did I say butter poached? Yup, all good in the Spruce 'hood! Brian had a lovely house salad and the halibut. Of course, foodie I am, had to taste his as well. Neither one of us had anything left on our plates. For dessert, another first time try for me – a Peach galette. The perfect antidote to my buttery good lobster - light, refreshing, not too sweet. If you are looking for a place to step out in San Francisco - I would highly recommend Spruce.

My most impressive moment? The sommelier opened our bottle of champagne under a napkin with no POP from the bottle and presented me with the metal "coin" from the top of the champagne bottle. She said she had to pass a test to for that! I think I went to school for the wrong thing!

My honey's most impressive moment? As the table next to us was reset for the next guests, the server had two cordless irons and he proceeded to iron the tablecloth before setting the table! (p.s. my honey says ironing relaxes him!)

The menu at Spruce changes often, the focus is local, in season, sustainable food. I highly recommend checking it out – I personally can not wait to try it again…or just sit at the bar and have a full on cocktail tasting!