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| - I give this place 3.5 stars.
I have such mixed feelings about this place! First, as anyone who has lived in Pittsburgh a while knows, this replaced a great restaurant that closed. Next, the neighborhoods of Bloomfield/Friendship have been experiencing a boom, with many great new restaurants moving in, some which are excellent, and some which are simply okay...though nearly all are very very pricey.
So we walked in and the ambiance is great- a bustling place, even on a Monday night! We were seated by the kitchen, which was cool, as we got to see and smell everything that was cooking. We got our menus and settled in to chatting. Now my dinner partner and I can talk forever ... But it was a really long wait to get our drink orders and food orders taken. Luckily we were happily chatting the whole time...but this could be awkward for some people who are less talkative or more hungry.
Speaking of hungry...the portions here are very, very small. I know this is a fine dining trend, so I can cope, but I ordered a $7 chicken tortellini soup, and it was about 1 cubic inch of soup. It was laughably tiny! We each got drinks, and the fizz and sparkle were good- my dinner buddy is a gin fan, and liked all of the gin options. I ordered the rum/grapefruit/cayenne option- it was a little watery on the drink and too salty on the cayenne rim. So not my favorite drink for $12...not even close. I think the bartender may need some more education.
The reason I didn't give Spork the 3 stars I considered giving them- the bread & pasta! Oh my gosh, was my dish good. I had the duck and pasta "rags" dish (gotta work on naming, chef!), and my dinner buddy got the salmon. Both were stupendous! The breads and spreads was great to share as a starter. However with prices this high and portions this small, some kind of bread should be included.
We ordered two desserts as well- the vanilla bean ice cream (yum! A very good vanilla), and something else that I've already forgotten about, but which was good. I will be back, but the bartender needs improve a lot for me to be a regular!
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