Spruce

Spruce Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: With an ambience that is at once warm and posh, and imaginative dishes borne of impeccable pedigree, big-ticket Spruce somehow manages a playful elegance. The soaring, clean-lined, white-tablecloth dining room housed in what was a 1930s car garage evokes a museum, but in a good way, with ostrich-leather seating, a fireplace, "library" room and long, welcoming marble bar.

Food & Drinks: Executive chef Mark Sullivan (The Village Pub) wows with seasonal, contemporary American cuisine. A savory chestnut "bavarois" is a palette of color and texture, the creamy chestnut punctuated by tart persimmon and a sparse sprinkling of sweet-salty onion-balsamic crumble. Kurobuta pork tenderloin is reminiscent of filet mignon, with the tender pork offset by a charred crust with horseradish undertones. Despite the caliber of cuisine and service and 2,500-bottle international wine list, dining here need not be buttoned-up: the bar menu includes a fat, juicy burger --- one of the best in town, and also on the restaurant's lunch menu. A café up front serves many items to go. Desserts are yet another highlight, including a whiskey-infused foam that gives way to ice cream studded with hunks of toffee.