Seattle - Sitka & Spruce

I thought I'd do this post a little out of the usual chronological order and you'll see why in a future post. I mentioned getting stranded in Seattle on the way back from Vancouver due to the Great Delta Debacle of 2016 in an earlier post. Anyway, being stuck in Seattle isn't that bad for us....of course I lost extra vacation time. But I quickly got us a hotel and reservations at a place we really enjoyed during our last "visit" Sitka & Spruce.

While we did enjoy our meal we really weren't quite as impressed this time around and perhaps the best part of the meal was my cocktail, called "The Garden".

Loved the addition of the celery bitters and oregano, which gave this white grape juice and ancho reyes cocktail a wonderful complex array of flavors. Not too boozy and quite refreshing. The sweetness of honey and citrus really balanced things out.

We started with some Shigoku Oysters ($3/each), which is basically a new variation of Kusshi Oysters a strain of Pacific Oyster.

These were very mild in flavor and perhaps a bit too firm for my taste. Also, one of the oysters tasted a bit off; but I suffered no ill effects.

We also ordered the combination of pickled and fermented vegetables with pickled egg ($11).

This was a lot of pickles....a lot, enough for 4-5 people, except for the egg of course, which was very good.  The Shishito Peppers had a very nice texture and the beets were delicious. Probably too much of a good thing though.

Next up; the Heirloom Tomatoes and Halloumi ($18).

The tomatoes were good...a bit too mild in flavor and acid. This dish had way too much basil on it. The big surprise was the seared Halloumi, which had a fairly crisp exterior and a creamy interior. It added a bit of saltiness to the dish which was welcomed as was the presence of Shiro Plums which added a pleasant sweetness.

The Crispy Yukon Golds with Tuna and Egg Yolk ($14) was quite good.

That egg yolk added rich creaminess and the tonnato (a tuna-mayo based sauce) added a nice creamy-savory flavor as well. The olive oil was lovely and the potatoes delicious. The tuna confit really had no flavor and brought nothing to the dish in our opinion.

The Broccoli with Charred Eggplant ($13) was quite good in spite of the rather greyish hue of the dish.

Think broccolini with baba gannoush. The restrained amount of Aleppo Pepper added some zip to the smoky eggplant puree. The anchovies were a bit too salty for this in my opinion.

The seemingly odd combination of Nectarines, Lardo, Seared Shishito Peppers, and Chickpea Puree ($14) sounds a bit disjointed, but it worked quite well.

An interesting combination of textures and flavors; sweet, that chlorophyll-sweet-mild spice of the peppers, the texture of the lardo, and topped off with a nutty hummus like puree, this worked nicely for us.

As with our previous meal; we were intrigued with the combination of textures and flavors, some of which worked better than others. Though during our previous visit, we had that one dish which we thought was just amazing, which we didn't find on this visit. Still, while you might think $120+ for mostly vegetables (and cocktails) is mighty steep, the meal was a fun little ride.

Sitka & Spruce
1531 Melrose Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

 

Comments

[kat]

what a great assortment of dishes!

[nhb]

You're brave downing an oyster that tasted off. You're truly a man with an iron stomach.

[Kirk]

It was an interesting meal Kat.

Hi Billy - It actually smelled ok; since I already had it in my mouth I figured what the heck.