Seattle Dinner

Spring Hill Restaurant - new-to-us restaurant in Seattle. We had an amazing meal and evening of delight at this establishment. The restaurant is in West Seattle – a nice change of pace for us – we generally eat on the other side of Elliot Bay. The restaurant looked nice from the exterior and felt warm and cozy as soon as we entered. We were efficiently ushered to our table at the front window. The décor was what we call Seattle modern – a nearly Scandinavian simplicity with a warmness that is somewhat difficult to put a finger on – chrome and mirrors on the wall, textured concrete flooring, very comfortable but simple chairs, no tablecloths but rather placemats, and light-wood tables. The lights were dimmed to what we consider to be the perfect level.

We started with their Duck Egg Yolk Raviolo with green sauce, duck ham and garlic chips. Wow! I’ll go back just to get more of this dish. The only thing that would have made it better would have been the inclusion of bread at the table to sop up the last bits of sauce! (Spring Hill offers bread and butter for $3. I’m not sure why but I’m willing to pay for bread in Europe, but not usually in the States). Next up was the Spruce Needle-Cured Moose with sour cream and crackers. The moose was delicious and delicate but completely overpowered by the cracker if eaten in one bite. I would suggest eating the two separately (as we did) to fully enjoy the dish. (The waiter said we were the third group who made the same recommendation so I have a feeling there will be an adjustment made to this dish.) We ordered the Crispy Veal Sweetbreads and enjoyed every bite. They were perfectly prepared. Next was their Lardo with chanterelle mushroom toast. Excellent! For the main course our group ordered the Sauteed Black Cod with smoked clam panzanella, olive oil sauce with parsley, and escarole. This was a wonderful combination of ingredients and the fish was perfectly cooked. Excellent! The Carlton’s Farm Pork with red garnet yam, local collards, sweet and sour cranberries, and pork croutons was anotherperfectly balanced, excellent dish. The Roasted Duck Breast with cabbage sausage, quinoa waffle, spaghetti squash, and ornage-maple mustard was yet another hit. Again, an great balance of flavors. The Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs with Anson Mills grits, brussels sprouts, and caper-lemon relish were extremely tender and the pan-reduction sauce was superb. Finally, the 1/2 Pound Beef Burger with house bacon, teleme, white cheddar, special sauce, and beef fat fries were perfectly cooked and tasty. To top it all off, our waiter was outstanding.

For dessert, we ordered the chocolate torte and the trio of ice creams. It was a perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Spring Hill – highly recommended!