Spork — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Spork was utterly, breathtakingly incredible. I visited Spork tonight for dinner and it has immediately joined my top favorite dining experiences, which, for those keeping track at home, are comprised of Apotek in Reykjavik, Cosme in New York City, and Bestia in Los Angeles. I did not expect to add a Pittsburgh restaurant to that list, but here we are. The meal was kicked off with not one but five amuse-bouche. The first, a chilled, earthy, mushroomy soup, was the least impressive; interesting, but not particularly noteworthy. I ordered one of their non-alcoholic cocktails and it was delightful. The rest of the meal was perfection, and when the fourth amuse bouche came out (two different types of fresh-baked bread with herbed whipped butter; imported, fruity olive oil; and flaked salt) I was so excited the server could hardly keep a straight face as she described the dish, because I pretty much took on the expression of a Golden Retriever about to go on a walk. My entrée was a magnificently cooked fish filet and a symphony of sauces and tomato wedges. Normally I'm not big on whole tomatoes but these were so good I ate every bite. There was risotto involved as well and it was likewise marvelous. Dessert was a trio of dishes and each one brought new wonderments, and then, as if that wasn't enough, truffles arrived with the check.

I have only one complaint/piece of feedback: I disagree with the chef's choice to include dishes on the menu with foie gras. To my knowledge, it's almost impossible to source an "ethical" version of foie gras and there are so many cool substitutions possible. I would politely ask the chef to discontinue this ingredient, please.

The entire meal was two hours long. It was worth every minute and every dollar. I am enraptured. I was only in town for a special event and now I have to come back to Pittsburgh in the future just for...

Didn't plan on coming here but ended up seeing that the dining room wasn't too crowded so decided to stop in for dinner. We ordered Octopus and mushroom toast for appetizers. The octopus was very good flavor wise, slightly overcooked but still very tasty. Mushroom toast was good but definitely too salty and not much flavor besides the char from the cast iron it was cooked in. Here's where things got.. "fishy" My partner ordered the halibut and I ordered the pork chop. The halibut was completely raw in the center, could have not been over 80-90 degrees on a thermometer. We sent it back and they made a whole new dish. The waitress waited by the table to make sure it was cooked properly, when she cut into the new piece it was once again, completely raw. I don't understand how a restaurant that claims to be this good can severely undercook a piece of fish twice, there is obviously not enough supervision/training going on in the kitchen to make sure that even the second time around the fish is cooked properly. My pork chop was OK, not great, definitely too fatty and once again over salted. The sauces were fine by themselves but they try to mix so many of them together that it becomes strange tasting. Stick with one good sauce and call it.

Also side note, the service was excellent and the staff was very friendly. The carrot cocktail was delicious but the others we ordered were pretty strange tasting and definitely not worth the high price tag.

At the end of the meal we were comp'd for the entrée and one cocktail, which is ok I guess. Still ended up with a $200 bill for 1 entrée, two apps and two drinks. At a restaurant like this I would at least expect the manager or head chef to come to our table to try and remedy...

I was excited to bring family when they visited town to try this place. Due to allergies and other health issues, my mom is on a very limited diet and it has never been a problem in restaurants - she just asks for plain and simple things. The waitress Nina was initially accommodating, which we really appreciated and told her so. When my moms meal came it had a red powder all over it. After explaining again that she was on a very limited diet and couldn’t eat anything beyond the simple elements she and the chef had agreed on, Nina proceeded to display the rudest attitude any of us had ever encountered by a server. It was completely baffling. She then called over the chef and he was also rude, though the whole time we were very polite and apologetic for causing an inconvenience. He actually said, “what, so you just want me to make you another one?”

Their attitude completely ruined our experience. At the end, my mom (in the spirit of being honest in person and not resorting to hiding behind online reviews) told Nina, “I really appreciate you being accommodating about the meal, I do just want to say that the attitude that came with it ruined the experience for us a little bit.” Nina smirked and said, “wonderful” in an extremely sarcastic tone and stalked off. We were completely floored. Based on the defensive and disrespectful tone in which their online account has responded to other negative reviews, we shouldn’t have been surprised.

I wish I could say the food made up for the abysmal service, but unfortunately it was very subpar.

To end on a positive note, the...