Seattle: Sitka and Spruce (August 2014)

My spouse and I dined at Sitka and Spruce on a Sunday afternoon for brunch in early August 2014. We made a reservation on-line using the Open Table reservation system. Sitka and Spruce is open for lunch on weekdays, brunch on weekends, and dinner daily. Parking is available on the street, or in a nearby parking lot or garage (such as the garage at the Convention Center or the garage at the Homewood Suites). We stayed nearby at the Homewood Suites, so it was a quick 5-minute walk (although slightly uphill) to Sitka and Spruce.

The restaurant is located in the First Hill / Capitol Hill neighborhood in a renovated warehouse-type building called Melrose Market, which houses not only Sitka and Spruce, but a wine shop (Bar Ferd’nand), bar (Still Liquor), butcher (Rainshadow Meats), cheese shop (Calf and Kid), flower and produce shop (Marigold and Mint), oyster bar (Taylor Shellfish), and sandwich cafe (Homegrown). Shoppers can purchase home decor and gifts at Glasswing and Butter Home. (FYI: Sitka and Spruce originally opened in Eastlake in a strip mall, but moved to Melrose Market in 2010.)

The space for Sitka and Spruce has vaulted ceilings, with a multi-story exterior wall made of metal and glass. The kitchen is incorporated into the dining area, and has a large communal high-top table adjacent to the cooking area. The restaurant space also features counter / barstool seating along one wall near the windows, table seating in the center of the room, and tables with one side of banquette seating along the inner wall of the market.

Chef / owner Matthew Dillon supports local farm-to-table cuisine and foraging. Before he opened his own restaurants, he worked at The Herb Farm in Woodinville and at the Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie. Chef Dillon is a 2012 James Beard Award winner. “Food and Wine” magazine voted him the Best New Chef in 2007. Other properties owned by the Matt Dillon company are Bar Ferd’nand (in the same Melrose Market building), Bar Sajor (in Pioneer Square), the Corson Building (Georgetown), the London Plane (also in Pioneer Square), and the Old Chaser Farm (Vashon Island).

We shared the house-made charcuterie as a starter, which included four different kinds of meats, accompanied by crostini slices and mustards. Next, we shared a beet salad that was both beautiful and unique; the beets were raw and served sliced in a Carpaccio style. The multi-colored beets (traditional red, yellow, and peppermint striped) topped with walnuts, goat cheese, and cilantro. The food was fresh and carefully prepared.

We enjoyed our light lunch at Sitka and Spruce so much that we dined at another Dillon restaurant, Bar Sajor, later the same week.