Spark

First of all, it’s a very attractive room. When a friend and I went around 6:30p on a weeknight, there was one other table and a couple of people at the bar. Couples did come and go while we were there. Noise level was perfect, but I’ve also been there when it’s been full and it goes up proportionately.
We ordered the Chef’s Charcuterie Tasting ($ 18) to begin with. It was better than good, but not anything to crow about. A little skimpy on the meats, the cheeses were nice, but the spreads were maybe about a ½ teaspoon or so. I had just returned from Switzerland /​Italy, and the board was light and overpriced by comparison.
For dinner, my friend had the ½ Pistachio Crusted Black Grouper ($ 16) which she enjoyed to the last forkful. The pistachios were pretty chunky. I make this at home and pulverize the pistachios, but it’s purely personal taste. I had the sliced, crisped duck over a rather soupy quinoa. The duck was great! It was cooked as I asked and there was just the right amount of crunch to the skin.
We decided to split the beignets, which were a perfect and light ending to our dinner. I thought they were better plain than with the included chocolate sauce. All in all, a successful evening.
There was a single waiter/​bartender covering the room for the most part and there weren’t any glitches until we ordered dessert. By the time we were ready, there were, count ‘em, five waitstaff behind the bar making drinks. We probably waited for 20 minutes and only got them when we drew our water’s attention to the fact that we were still waiting. NOT the end of the world, just a lack of focus.
That being said, I’ll be back!

The food was ok, nothing special. The wine was as always these days skimpy. But the noise! That was something special. People shouting at the bar. The TV going with a football game. And on top of that management decided to play loud music. Very poor experience. We will not be going back

I will start by saying I had high expectations because I have dined at Embers which is connected, and had a great experience. I came in to Spark and sat down immediately as there was four seats available. There were four servers behind the bar and I use the term loosely as only one person was serving. My husband and I waited for 15 minutes before I asked the young man shining wine glasses if he was available to take an order… The person who I asked for suggestions seemed about as familiar with the menu as I was. I left and came next door to Embers to try and salvage my Friday night… Quite disappointing after all the hype and commercials.