FNSC: Spitzer's Corner

This Friday we hit up Spitzer's Corner, a gastropub with 40 beers on tap! Good beers too. But the beer was honestly outclassed by the food. Definitely recommended for a Friday evening outing.



We had six dishes (descriptions and prices from the online menu):

Pork Fat Edamame (cayenne pepper, sea salt) 5
These were good but not as amazing as we’d expected.  The pods sopped up some of the tasty flavor of the pork fat so they got a lot tastier of you shelled them in the bowl and then coated them in the sauce. 

Heirloom Tomato Salad (organic tomatoes, yellow watermelon, basil seeds, parmesan crisp, drizzled w/ evo and balsamic vinegar) 11
You really can’t go wrong with a heirloom tomato salad.  The watermelon was an interesting addition and the parmesan crisp (although not original) was a good addition too. 

Pork Rillettes (pork shoulder confit, duck fat and herbs, served with toasted country bread) 9
Now that I’m home in front of a computer I can look up what “rillettes” means, but I have to admit that I was surprised that this was a cold spread.  Pâté I’m familiar with, and this was like that, but it was only ok. 

Seafood Sausage (chunks of lobster, scallop, shrimp, monkfish, white wine-butter sauce, chili oil) 11
This was a surpisingly complex and rich seafood sausage.  I hadn't wanted to order it because I thought it would be disappointing but the flavors came together in such a satisfying way that it barely needed the sauce. 

Truffle Mac and Cheese (parmegiano reggiano, white cheddar, fontina, truffles, panko, rosemary and thyme) 11

Yum!  I’m a mac and cheese fan, and this was pretty fantastic.  Truffle mac and cheese has become popular these days, but this was a particularly well done version.  Some places go overboard on the truffles or truffle oil, but the potent mushrooms were a delicious and subtle complement to the cheddar (good work on the white cheddar) and herbs.

Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon (organic fish, caper-crusted, broiled tomato, crispy artichoke, grilled meyer lemon) 19
I’ll admit that I wasn’t in favor or ordering this dish either, but hands down this was the best dish of the night.  Most people don’t know what to do with capers, but this is a really fantastic use.  Capers are mouthpuckeringly salty, but still tasty and green and they lend a perfect briney accent to the salmon in this dish.  The crispy artichoke was delicious!  So crispy and light that you could barely tell that it had been a vegetable, but bursting with flavor and texture.  I thought this would just be the token fish dish on the menu, including a trendy cedar plank, but I was wrong.  Even the fancy lemon was the perfect way to add further flavor to the tender moist fish and compliment the capers.