Spark Restaurant Lounge – Provo

Ultimately, I owe this review to Sposita; a few years back she  came out to visit us.  While here, she took Roni to Spark (or SP^RK if you go by the sign).  I was intrigued  by Roni’s description of the atmosphere, food and general vibe of the restaurant.  A trendy place?  that serves non-alcoholic mixed drinks? in Provo?

I knew we just had to go.  Last year, we purchased a gift card for Spark during their black friday special; all gift cards were 50% off.  This week we were able to use up the last of that gift card, and it was worth it.

In general, Spark is the kind of place you might expect to find in a larger city.  The inside is dark, with modern art on the walls, and lights hanging down at varying heights from the tall ceiling.  You almost suspect that the place doubles as a moody hangout for overwrought hipsters after a long day of reading Nietzsche and comparing ironic mustache tattoos.  But oddly enough, the decor seems to work with the restaurant as a whole.

Spark uses quality ingredients in its food and drinks.  This was especially evident in the dessert we ordered.  If you do go to spark, I recommend you splurge and get the amano chocolate mousse.  The mousse is made from locally produced chocolate and is smooth and rich.  Nicely complementing the richness of the chocolate was the homemade hazelnut ice-cream; it was wonderful and creamy.  Also included was a bruleed grapefruit.  This was perhaps the most surprising part of the dessert.  I would never have paired grapefruit with hazelnut ice cream or chocolate mouse, but all of the components worked together in harmony to please your palate.

Presentation is king at Spark.  If you want large portions of messy food slopped down on your plate (i’m looking at you Texas Roadhouse), then this is not the pace for you.  Each dish I’ve had has been thoughtfully presented with neatness and precision.  Don’t expect needless amounts of parsley on you dish here (I’m looking at you IHOP), everything on the plate is meant to contribute to the flavor of the dish.  My most recent dish serves to illustrate this point.  I ordered the  flat iron steak, with cranberry sauce, microgreens and potato croquette.  While each individual item was tasty in its own right, it was the combination of all the elements on the plate that really made the dish supreme.  The steak was tender and seasoned well, while the microgreens added a mild nuttiness which help to counterbalance the tartness of the cranberry sauce.  The croquette helped to add in some textural variety to the dish.  That being said, if you run out of one of the elements, the others may seem a bit bland.  While the croquette interesting with the steak and other sides, when it was alone, it was a bit bland.

The serving size is not going to be the same as if you went Cheesecake Factory.  Don’t expect to leave Spark on a gurney while you desperately try to use that belt-hole-punching attachment on your swiss army knife.  The servings are reasonable, and are designed for you to enjoy more than a single course.  If you’re not sure you want to drop $10-$15 a course quite yet, then I highly recommend the lunch special.  The special changes several time throughout the week (and is announced daily on twitter and facebook), but always includes three courses for $10.  The first course is a soup or salad, followed by an entrée and dessert.  Wait for a trio that sounds interesting and try spark.

Finally, a word on the drinks.  Sparks has non-alcoholic mixed drinks, but again, don’t expect mega-smoothies or chocolate shakes here.  The flavors are thoughtful and intriguing.  My personal favorite is the mango mojito, which has mango puree, mint and lime.  Roni usually favors the berry martini or kiwi martini to quench her thirst.  No free refills here, so sip your drink, don’t gulp it down!  With multiple courses, you may want to leave the kids at home for both financial and managerial reasons.  I’ve seen people bring younger kids, but it usually does not end well.  We’ve been known to bring an infant who can sleep through the meal, and that seems to work just fine.

Food Quality: 4
Taste: 4.5
Portion Size: 4
Service: 3.5
Overall Experience: 4
price (per course): $8-18

tl;dr:  Give it a try for some creative and flavorful food that is expertly presented.

Spark Restaurant Lounge
86 N University Ave
Provo, UT 84601

Adventures in Baking Adventurously

A short while ago, Roni found a recipe for a cake that looked tremendously delicious.  We knew we had to try it.  It was for a chocolate pumpkin cake (original recipe here).  We both love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and this recipe sounded like the natural extension of that love.

For those of you who don’t know, the problem is that we have neither a real oven, nor do we have a real stove.  We do have, however, a toaster oven and a portable butane stove to bake and cook with.  Despite our significant handicap, we decided to give the recipe a go.  We were not disappointed.

So, other than carrot cake, I had never made a cake without using a boxed cake mix as a base.  I was a little bit nervous that the cake would come out all wrong when we tried to make it.  But, we made the batter and it was actually quite good.  The pumpkin purée went into the batter, but it wasn’t as overwhelmingly PUMPKIN as I expected.

The Bwun approved!

We baked the first layer, and popped in some Perry Mason to pass the time while the first layer cooled.  We leveled the layer and we were both surprised at how moist and chocolaty the cake was.  A definite winner!  Sadly, by the time the second layer was done, the Bwun was in bed, so we couldn’t really fire up the mixer to get started on making the frosting.

However, as soon as the Bwun woke up the next morning, I started on the frosting.  The frosting had a bit of cocoa powder in it; this made it  wonderful and rich.  The only thing I would change would be to leave out the cinnamon that the recipe calls for (It almost feels like it detracts from the rest of the cake).  We put the frosting on the cake, and let the it sit in the fridge for a good long while.

The final step is what really brought this cake into perfection; we started making the ganache topping.  It was very simple, and very tasty.    Just a little cream, chocolate and butter, and it was ready to go!

Not pictured: restraint

We waited for a few minutes for the ganache to cool, and then poured it over the top of the cake and let it run down the sides.  Here was the end result.

Jealous?

Not the prettiest looking thing we’ve ever made, but wasn’t bad for having been made in a glorified toaster!  The pumpkin made the chocolate cake moist and delicious, and the combination of the sweet cream cheese/whipped cream frosting and the rich ganache made for the perfect topping.  If you’re in the mood for some seasonal fun, this cake is a must try!  I think it was certainly good enough to make it into our cookbook.

Texas Roadhouse – Orem

Texas Roadhouse opened up one of its chains in Orem, UT on November 15.  I will admit I was pretty excited.  When Roni and I were driving out to North Carolina for the summer, we stopped in Louisville.  While there, we had the chance to go to a Texas Roadhouse, and found that it was quite good.  Because of our the arrival of a Texas Roadhouse in Orem, we decided to place an order for pick up in order to review the food and fixins at this new hot spot.

Remember when I reviewed Carrabba’s and I praised them for their online ordering system?  Sadly, Texas Roadhouse does not have a comparable system in place.  You just have to call up and place an order and pray to high heaven that they get the order right.  It was almost as if tonight’s experience existed solely to highlight how great online ordering is. When Roni tried to place the order, Jr. started fussing, the Bwun started wanting attention, and I was trying to clarify the order with Roni while she was on the phone.  Roni got so frustrated trying to place the order that she just had to hang up and try again.  All of this could have been avoided with a simple online ordering system.

Remember how much I liked the curbside pickup offered at Carrabba’s and Outback?  Unfortunately, Texas Roadhouse has not caught onto this concept.  I went into the restaurant and was immediately grateful that we decided to pick up our order instead of eating there; the place was packed.  It wasn’t immediately apparent where I was supposed to pick up the order, and the first couple people I tried to talk to in the reception area either ignored me or didn’t hear me.  Finally a passing waitress saw that I was trying to talk to somebody, and she directed me to the order pick up counter.

I brought the food home and we dug in.  Roni ordered the combo plate of USDA Choice sirloin and ribs; I ordered the pulled pork and ribs.  Can you tell that we like meat?  Now, maybe it was just because we were spoiled with superb barbecue in North Carolina, but the pulled pork and ribs did not quite stand up.  To be fair, the ribs were flavorful and had a lot of meat on them.  However, Roni reported that her ribs were a bit dry.  The several pieces of bone in my pulled pork also failed to impress.

The star of the show was definitely the sirloin that Roni ordered.  She let me have a bite, and it was instantly clear it was belle of the ball.  The steak was cooked and seasoned perfectly.  It was tender, flavorful, and had just a hint of smokiness to it.  The rolls included with the meal were also quite good.  Furthermore, I appreciated that the menu offered a definition of rare, medium rare, etc.  It seems that what one place calls medium rare, another restaurant will call medium well, so it was nice to have a baseline.

The portions were, to use the cliché, Texas-sized.  I would be surprised if a person could finish their plate after an appetizer and have room for dessert.  If you eat conservatively (i.e. you want less than 1,000 calories out of your dinner) you could easily get two dinners out of one entrée.

We enjoyed our dinner, but I’m not sure that we’ll be ordering from them again anytime soon.  To be perfectly honest, there are local places with better barbecue and better prices.

Ease of Ordering: 3
Food Quality: 3.5 (3 for the barbecue, but a 4.5 for the steak)
Portion Size: 4.5
Overall Experience: 3.5
Price Range: $10-$18

tl;dr: Barbecue is only decent.  Stick to the steak!

Texas Roadhouse
1265 S. State Street
Orem, UT 84097