Saturday was a good day, for several reasons. First, I was able to spend the majority of the day tripping around downtown Seattle with my lady T and her mom Sandi. Sandi was visiting from Denver, so good eats were in order as killer grub is hard to find in the Rocky Mountains, leaving my poor mother in law deprived. Second, we were lucky enough to score a reservation at West Seattle’s latest dining hot spot, Spring Hill. Located on the 4400 block of California Ave SW, Spring Hill was easy to find. We had read about this place in a magazine that we subscribe to called “Northwest Palate” (which if you haven’t checked out, it is packed with good stuff – highly recommended). It sounded intriguing: a cool new foodie haven owned and operated by former Dahlia Lounge chef Mark Fuller and his wife Marjorie. Having eaten at Dahlia in the past, we knew of Fuller’s handiwork in the kitchen and have always been impressed. I mean, this is the cat who helped Tom Douglas throw some whoop-ass down on Morimoto to win Iron Chef. The man is no culinary slouch.
Chef Mark Fuller in Action
We had an early reservation at 5:45, were greeted by the charming Mrs. Fuller and seated at a nice 4 top with a great view of the kitchen. Nearly every seat in the house has a view of the action. It was a blast watching Fuller oversee the line as we waited between courses. He watched over the line with the calm of a Zen-Master as his crew moved amongst each other with precision and grace.
This place has lots of small plates, so we had to begin with several to whet our appetites. We started with a round of The Bubbly, along with some Kumamoto and Kusshi oysters which were served with a Cascade Hop Mignonette. Being hoppy beer lovers, bathing oysters in a hoppy bath made us very happy indeed. We also sampled the Citrus Cured King Clam with Lemon Peel Relish. It was like Ceviche made with a King Clam. It was an explosion of flavors - the sea, bright citrus, and a bit of spice - incredible.
The wine list was impressive and featured one of our all time favorite Pinot Noirs, Cameron Arley’s Leap. Now we needed something to go with our bottle of Pinot. We tried the Razor Clam Sausage, Roasted Beet Salad, Duck Egg Yolk Raviolo and Veal Sweetbreads. All were absolutely amazing – the Clam Sausage was a mixture of Pork, Razor Clams and herbs, all caramelized to perfection and served on a bed of dressed greens. The Beet Salad was adorned with Asian pear, smoked hazelnuts, Rogue bleu cheese and basil. The raviolo was topped with duck ham and garlic chips. The scene-stealer was the sweetbreads, though, served with a trio of dipping sauces: BBQ, Honey Mustard, and Ranch. I was in heaven (read: organ meat freak).
Of course, we had to have another bottle of that wine (according to our server, Andrea, they were the last 2 bottles). Next we tried the Wood Grilled Prawns with grits, shrimp gravy, poached egg and Chanterelle mushrooms. Plus, Beef Steak Hot and Cold, which was comprised of a mound of beef tartare and grilled rib eye. We were doing some serious eating here! We had some wine left, so we had to get another round of the Razor Clam Sausage and another Duck Egg Raviolo….. hey, what can you do, ya’ gotta’ have something to wash down! After 3 hours or so of foodie bliss, we’d had enough. We never got around to sampling any of the entrée sizes dishes. They had some great sounding plates, from pasta to duck to burgers to short ribs. Check out the full menu here: menu
For dessert we tried some frozen treats, a scoop of Buttered and Salted Popcorn ice cream, and a scoop of Fruit Sorbet. The popcorn ice cream was insane – it tasted just like buttered popcorn. All accompanied by Gran Marnier for me and hot tea for the ladies.
All in all, we were quite impressed. You just don’t come across this level of creativity all that often. Service was top-notch. Food was out of this world, and the execution was flawless. Next time you want to try something exciting, I urge you to check out Spring Hill, you’ll be glad you did.
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