sitka & spruce bar

fallen by the wayside. i used to love this place for all of its eccentricities. but the last several visits were woefully unnacceptable and just plain boring.

it feels like matt has been so busy with his other projects that this place is being ignored and allowed to sink--so to speak.

preparations are markedly less interesting and poorly cooked. a leathery, unadorned pork shoulder--which matt could have previously pulled off with skill a nod to simplicity and regionality--is now the norm. honestly, most folks parents can do a better pork shoulder.

manydishescome sans critical ingredients described on chalkboard menus. when we inquired as to why the gnocchi alla romano with foraged mushroom's arrived with no mushrooms, the server shrugged his shoulders and said "the cook must have run out"

this format really worked well with the presence of a dedicated food fanatic and talented chef. but if you take away the matt, you find there's not much left..

sat at the large table right in front of the chefs and got to watch manydishesbeing made! i loved out brunch orders. very light yet fulfilling. i had a frittata dish while my friend had the rabbit. the rabbit was a bit different than what i expected... i thought the meat would be more gamey tasting. overall good experience, the decor of the restaurant was excellent!

disappointed. this used to be one of our favorite restaurants. not all of thedisheswere outstanding as we had come to expect. the service was ragged at best and confusing as to when thedishesappeared and what they were paired with. thedishescame in unpredictably and poorly timed. the gnundi was delicious but was served separtae from everything else -would have been better if served along side the fish. in the end, the waiter had to retrieve the bill because he forgot to add the wine. we may or may not be back.

the service might have figuratively left a bad taste, but the food literally left a good one. the executive chef is matt dillon who was awarded “best chef in the northwest” at the james beard foundation awards 2012. the style was “farm-to-table” which is typical these days, but his flavours anddisheswere eclectic and inspiring.

we were told thedishesat the bottom of the menu were more substantial. so the braised chicken dish @ $23 we thought was maybe a breast? surprised by the drumstick and maybe 1/2 thigh? artichoke dish was a+, sourdough bread with salted butter, a+

sitka & spruce has been around the block in their four years on the seattle restaurant scene; and not just figuratively speaking. late last year, the eastlake restaurant closed their doors only to put down new roots inside capitol hill's johnnie-come-lately, melrose market. in its previous location, devotees looked past the run-down storefront and paid attention to the food. chef and owner, matt dillon spins local ingredients into inspireddishesthe way rumpelstiltskin spins straw into gold. and he does so with conviction, highlighting seasonal local foods and routinely incorporating the exceptional meats, cheeses and produce found just outside their doorstep. when i first walked through the doors of melrose market, i found myself inexplicably drawn to the rear of the building where sitka and spruce inhabits a freestanding structure within the market. the reincarnated space does not sparkle with shiny newness. it feels like an old friend, weathered and familiar. soft light streams thr

big on ambience.... the dining room is the kitchen in this unique seattle restaurant where watching the line cooks prepare thedishesentertains a bit more than the food satisfies. the portions - and there were many - are not overly large. the preparations are interesting and mostly very satisfying. the tab for 4 with tip and after a bottle of fairly expensive wine, came to $300. as entertainment, i'd give this place a solid 9 out of 10. as for food, maybe a 6 or 7.

now the best of both worlds .... with the onslaught of new restaurants hitting the seattle scene, it's hard to stay relevant - even if you're only a few years old like sitka & spruce. but fortunately for sitka, they've moved their operations from the intriguing yet stale strip-mall on eastlake to the truly unique melrose market. with an open kitchen, an open pantry, and really what amounts to a completely open restaurant, any doubts over the ambience at sitka have been completely erased.

most importantly, the food remains locally-sourced and unquestionably exceptional. on a recent visit, the small yet incredibly diverse menu offered us, among other things, la quercia prosciutto w/ persimmons and chanterelles, a wonderful sausage and clam dish prepared in an apple cider broth and homemade saurkraut (the sausages were fresh from the butcher located in the market), an incredibly inventive vegetable dish featuring romanesco w/ anchovy paste and eggs, and a very playful pair of potatoes with creamy goat's milk and black truffles. there were a few things we didn't have on the menu, but given our close proximity to your fellow diners, it appears that everything else was just as beautiful as what we ordered.

sitka has been one of my favorite restaurants in recent years, but now that they've taken over the remodeled auto-mechanic shop in capitol hill, they now really offer the best of both worlds in terms of taste and experience. one tip - if you're paying sitka a visit this winter, bundle up b/c this old building's insulation is nonexistent!


-----02 jun, 2008-----

wow. i had been dying to dine here for quite some time, so i was worried that like many things in life that are built up, my experience would fall short of my expectations. that was clearly not the case here. the food was superb and there was a multitude of options to choose from. we started with a refreshing asparagus soup topped with creme fraiche, and continued with a beautiful and simply prepared hamachi crudo that was the perfect balance of acidity and freshness. we continued with octupus dressed lightly in pesto and bits of pancetta and pine nuts (amazing!) and then arrived pork belly and dandelion greens . . . one of the bestdishesi've had in quite some time! we finished the savory portion of our meal with bags of pasta containing ground pork and beef in a beef broth, and to top it all off, a rich dark chocolate tart complimented by olive oil gelato capped off what was one of the best tasting dinners from start to finish that i've had in this city. i loved howdishescould be ordered either half or full portion, and also loved the communal tables where we met some folks from north carolina salivating over the pork belly like us!

in short, if you are a fan of food, what are you waiting for?

mr. yuk. the 'different every time' approach may be what's stretched the imagination of s&s until it has snapped. i've read the rave reviews & now i'm compelled to check the date on them...has something changed?

servers seemed bored & i was soon to join them.

a $12 celeriac soup almost put us to sleep. the octopus & garbanzo beans yielded little to no flavor & i chewed those damn tentacles...& chewed & chewed.
both the lamb legs & pork w/ couscous were quite simply dry. if the octopi gave me tmj then the meatdishesgave me cotton mouth.

slight redemption: served w/the lamb legs, the lamb liver pâté on toast was absolutely delicious!

please be a no call/no show for sitka & spruce. it's sad if such awful food can survive in our city.

hands down, best restaurant in seattle!. i have been there twice over the past year, and it has always been superb. interesting, foodiedishesfeaturing local flora and fauna make it feel northwest-y, and the preparation and ingenuity of the kitchen is really refreshing. the tight, cozy little atmosphere is perfect for a few, and you will usually get the know the folks you end up sharing a table with, either through them offering bites of their food, or recommending certain menu items. be it pea tendrils, fresh morels or fiddleheads, this is seattle food at its best.