Spruce — Restaurant in San Francisco

Attack of the bees. How's that for an uncontrollable variable in pandemic dining? A great job of white tablecloth fine dining outdoors. I can't bring myself to rate Spruce 5 stars, but I'll get to that.

We didn't come to gawk at the transformed dining room, I had a chance to admire their wine selection on display on my way to the restroom. They serve a $70 prix fixe brunch on weekends. Schedule permitting, I recommend coming for weekday a la carte lunch instead, because a little quick & dirty math shows it's a better deal, unless you want what's not on the lunch menu. They may allow you to order off menu, since so many people were substituting the brunch entrée for the burger instead, which I did as well. Anyhow, the prix fixe menu is also not the reason for knocking off a star.

Rouge D'étampes Pumpkin Soup - Black Truffle Mousseline, Pepita Crumble, crisp sage ($17 for lunch): Mr. Joy and I rarely order the same things, but it is the only first course option that is not cold. Still not the reason for losing a star.

Spruce Burger - English muffin bun, French fries ($22 for lunch): This is a large burger, and hit all my criteria for a good burger. Meat to bun ratio was perfect, with the patty coming right to the edges of the English muffins. The proprietary, ground brisket, sirloin, short rib patty was very juicy. The white cheddar was melted over the patty. I polished it off and looked great doing it. Kidding, of course, since I don't think there is an elegant way to eat a burger with juices oozing with every bite. This is also a great burger for when you want to enjoy gluttony alone.

Crispy Pork Belly - Anson Mills grits, cured egg yolk, pickled apple: Melts in your mouth with a seared, crunchy side. Wouldn't mind if the grits were a little smoother. There wasn't much pork belly though. Still not the reasons for losing a star.

Mascarpone Cheesecake - Fuyu Persimmon, Citrus Crisp ($13 for lunch): Creamy, not too dense. The persimmons were prepared several ways, including thinly sliced like tuile.

Beignets - chocolate sauce, crème anglaise ($12 for lunch): 8 fluffy doughnut holes. Is this many doughnuts meant to be consumed by one person??

Dessert was when the bees would not stay away. Throughout the meal, I anticipated the bees. In the beginning, I overheard a lady at a table in front of us waving her arms anxiously, and exclaimed "I don't like them!" I noticed the bees and thought "Girl, I feel you." When trying to wave it away was no use, she got up from her table and socially distanced herself from the bee. I would have done the same thing. Her dining companion waved away the bee until it flew into his empty cocktail glass, and then he placed the menu over the glass, trapping the bee inside. Success! A waitress came by and said "I'll let it loose down the street." I said to Mr. Joy, "What's that going to do? It's just going to come back." The bees sure liked that table, because 2 bees showed up when the next couple sat down. The next lady sat calmly all the while one of the bees hovered inches from her face! When our desserts arrived, I was not surprised to see us receive a predator of our own. Mr. Joy attempted to swat it away, but it was futile. Like the woman before me, I also shot up from our table and socially distanced myself from a potential stinger. At that point, I requested to have our desserts to go. Still not the reason why I took off a star. After all, the staff can't control the outdoor elements. They were more than accommodating about wrapping up the desserts and apologized for the pests.

Alas, the only part of the service that cost them the remaining star was the wait. We had a 1PM reservation and had our order taken by 1:10. It was almost 2PM when our pastries arrived. I was starting to think they had forgotten about us. Luckily I was in good company with good conversation. Otherwise it could drain a person's patience and rev up the hunger level. Besides this and the bee incident, I enjoyed Spruce and would like to try...

Had a Friday date night at Spruce after hearing so many good things about it… but sadly it didn’t live up to them for us! Our reservation was for 19:45 in the main dining area, we arrived and were informed the table wasn’t ready. We then asked if we could wait at the bar (I feel this should have been offered straight away, and one should not have to ask and stand in the doorway). The first response was that there was nothing available at the bar, so then we stood by the entry (we were not the only ones, I would say around 4-5 other parties were also waiting there, making for a weird and unorganized atmosphere). Then after a while something did free up at the bar, and we were able to sit, but nobody asked if we wanted drinks or gave updates to the table. After 15/20 minutes we asked if we could get drinks, ordered said drinks, did not receive them, and by now it was 20:20… At 20:25 we were seated at the table (res was for 19:45, and drinks still not served). While seated at the table, we reminded them about the ordered drinks, which we then received after another 10/15 minutes. The waitress was super nice, and explained the dishes (appreciate that) but sadly we then had to wait another 20 minutes to finally order the food… and the bread service had also not come by and now it’s 20:45. For the appetizers we ordered, risotto (+25 dollar supplement) and the tuna carpaccio. Sadly the risotto was served cold… and the tuna carpaccio was underwhelming (the fish was definitely fresh, but the dish lacked spices/taste, could have used something zesty or really anything to give it flavor). For the mains, we had the wagyu steak (+25 dollar supplement), it was good but not outstanding. We also had the duck, after reading so many good reviews about the dish, but sadly it was served completely cold… the duck and the vegetables were not even slightly “warm” and I have to say the dish also lacked flavor. The desert was good, had a chocolate sorbet and a chocolate tarte (both good, but not WOW). I have to say the waitress was very nice and probably left the best impression… but the seating situation was quite a mess at the front desk (not sure if they overbooked or don’t slot their reservations well). And the food was truly disappointing (heard once upon a time there had a Michelin star and lost it, which unfortunately, I can understand why). I would not recommend nor come again… which is not something I...

Superb menu, excellent service. Nice atmosphere. A very nice choice for a special night out.

UPDATE 2023:

ATMOSPHERE AND SERVICE: The outdoor space actually looks really nice. We ate indoors this time though, which is beautiful and more intimate.

The service was impeccable. Really outstanding.

The FOOD:

The sunchoke veloute was really nice. The scallop appetizer was delicious.

My wife's lobster ($35 addl) was the star of the table. Really spectacular. My rib eye was good but it was promised medium rare and it turned out rare...or almost raw...I'll put up a photo of that (I brought some of it home for my dog so it's obviously not taken the night of the dinner). Most of it was blood red not medium rare. The accompanying bordelaise and potatoes were delicious. I thought they could have provided slightly more bordelaise.

The desserts were beautiful and really scrumptious. The dark chocolate entremet was rich and creamy with a spectacular caramel ice cream and bits of hazelnuts.. we took my cheesecake to go as we had already reached our limit ...from the look of it, it will also be really special.

THE COST: in comparison to a number of other high end restaurants that we will never visit..(.the ones that have made $300/person the going rate in overpriced SF), it's a bargain. But at over $300 per couple without wine it's really awfully expensive for a meal. Five or so years ago this place would hit you up for maybe $220 for a couple without wine...which I consider to be a lot...now that it has increased in price about 50%, it can only be something we do once a year ..if that.

CONCLUSIONS

So it remains a superb place. The hiccup with the steak was probably a rarity. They do so many things well. We will return, though now that prices have jumped so much it won't be in 2023 I suspect.

Still, as I mentioned, it's less than a number of other high end restaurants will set you back, and we all know that in order to give you superb food and service a restaurant in SF has to pay their staff well (the ridiculous cost of housing makes it nearly impossible for any of the staff to live in SF I'm sure), and the restaurant must pay their landlords the breathtakingly high rents that are common in SF. I know of at least one incredible restaurant that closed prior to COVID for exactly these reasons (La Folie). It's good to see Spruce has...