chef change at Spark

[OhioBlue]

for the 3 of us that are fans of the place on this board, if you hadn't already heard Chef Viet Pham left Spark.



the silver lining has two folds tho:
one, he apparently went someplace in SLC. i'm not sure where just yet.
two, the new chef, Lauro Romero, is no slouch. he was a sous chef some place in SLC that i can't remember right now and is now doing his own thing at spark.

we went and took an out-of-towner a couple weeks ago who was doing a conference for us. he's well-traveled, lives in ann arbor but does 30-40 of these gigs a year. he had high praise for Spark. the new chef's stuff is different than Pham's, but still good. less adventurous as pham liked playing with unusual flavor combos and molecular gastronomy stuff. the menu hasn't been completely abandoned, the desserts are still there. which is a good thing. love that orange coriander ice cream.

Romero's menu has a few more offerings--7 or 8 instead of Pham's 4--for dinner plates. I had a perfectly-prepared speck-wrapped tuna, which was served on a grana padano risotto with truffle oil and some fried carrot strings for texture. i tried my wife's chicken dish which was also very good, I believe it had potato/leeks in there and also a marsala pan jus. The dinners come with the elements stacked togeter, whereas pham did the more deconstructed approach in many of his dishes.

overall i'm sad Pham left and i'd really like to figure out why, as i asked but don't think i got the whole story. if i had to guess i'd say provo just didn't do it for a guy who trained with big names in san fran, and/or Provo didn't appreciate him. spark is truly unique among all utah county establishments that i've seen and i'm guessing a lot of people just didn't get it. That said, Romero is doing well for one month in to his first exec chef gig and i STILL think it's the best restaurant around.

[TripletDaddy]

Zzzzzzz

[OhioBlue]

oh and for any that are interested, they finally created a website. http://www.sparkrestaurantlounge.com/
right now there's a 3-course lunch every day for 10 bucks.

[Mrs. Funk]

for the 3 of us that are fans of the place on this board, if you hadn't already heard Chef Viet Pham left Spark.



the silver lining has two folds tho:
one, he apparently went someplace in SLC. i'm not sure where just yet.
two, the new chef, Lauro Romero, is no slouch. he was a sous chef some place in SLC that i can't remember right now and is now doing his own thing at spark.

we went and took an out-of-towner a couple weeks ago who was doing a conference for us. he's well-traveled, lives in ann arbor but does 30-40 of these gigs a year. he had high praise for Spark. the new chef's stuff is different than Pham's, but still good. less adventurous as pham liked playing with unusual flavor combos and molecular gastronomy stuff. the menu hasn't been completely abandoned, the desserts are still there. which is a good thing. love that orange coriander ice cream.

Romero's menu has a few more offerings--7 or 8 instead of Pham's 4--for dinner plates. I had a perfectly-prepared speck-wrapped tuna, which was served on a grana padano risotto with truffle oil and some fried carrot strings for texture. i tried my wife's chicken dish which was also very good, I believe it had potato/leeks in there and also a marsala pan jus. The dinners come with the elements stacked togeter, whereas pham did the more deconstructed approach in many of his dishes.

overall i'm sad Pham left and i'd really like to figure out why, as i asked but don't think i got the whole story. if i had to guess i'd say provo just didn't do it for a guy who trained with big names in san fran, and/or Provo didn't appreciate him. spark is truly unique among all utah county establishments that i've seen and i'm guessing a lot of people just didn't get it. That said, Romero is doing well for one month in to his first exec chef gig and i STILL think it's the best restaurant around.

I noticed that the food was different the last time we went in about a month ago and this explains it. That's not to say that it was bad, just different. I'm sad that a chef with such an interesting approach to food has decided to move on, but it's not THAT surprising given that it this, after all, Utah county.

I go to a bakery in AF to study at least once a week and I am amazed by the lack of food knowledge that I overhear. [I qualify this that I am not as much of a foodie as you, OhioBlue, nor with the food chops. Nonetheless, I can prepare a good basic bechamel and appreciate a myriad of stinky cheeses.] The last week, I have heard three different people freak out about asking about brie that is on one of their sandwiches. One lady said, "I've never heard of brie. It doesn't sound good. Why would you put something on a sandwich that doesn't taste good?" Another lady a couple of days ago freaked out about dried blueberries on a salad; she'd never heard of Gorgonzola cheese, either, and didn't think it tasted good. One woman came into the bakery today and asked for the "thing I had yesterday. You know, a fruit scone wrapped into a muffin?" Turns out she was asking about a CROISSANT.

I don't want to sound elitist. These things are just not that uncommon, and I am always somewhat surprised that so many people seem to have never heard of them.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I had lunch once since the chef change. It was quite good.

[RobinFinderson]

I don't want to sound elitist. These things are just not that uncommon, and I am always somewhat surprised that so many people seem to have never heard of them.

I didn't try sushi until after my mission.
I didn't try Indian food until I was at BYU.
I didn't try Thai food until was just about to graduate from BYU.
I didn't try Cuban food until I moved to New Haven.
I didn't try French food until I moved to Los Angeles.

You don't sound elitist at all. When a kid grows up in a conservative Mormon family in a rural state, they don't learn about much more than Mexican, Italian and red meat and potatoes. That describes a lot of people in Utah.

[MarkGrace]

I read an article about this place in a SLC magazine. The author was complimentary of the food but spent most time bitching about the fact he couldn't get any alcohol.

[Shakey]

I noticed that the food was different the last time we went in about a month ago and this explains it. That's not to say that it was bad, just different. I'm sad that a chef with such an interesting approach to food has decided to move on, but it's not THAT surprising given that it this, after all, Utah county.

I go to a bakery in AF to study at least once a week and I am amazed by the lack of food knowledge that I overhear. [I qualify this that I am not as much of a foodie as you, OhioBlue, nor with the food chops. Nonetheless, I can prepare a good basic bechamel and appreciate a myriad of stinky cheeses.] The last week, I have heard three different people freak out about asking about brie that is on one of their sandwiches. One lady said, "I've never heard of brie. It doesn't sound good. Why would you put something on a sandwich that doesn't taste good?" Another lady a couple of days ago freaked out about dried blueberries on a salad; she'd never heard of Gorgonzola cheese, either, and didn't think it tasted good. One woman came into the bakery today and asked for the "thing I had yesterday. You know, a fruit scone wrapped into a muffin?" Turns out she was asking about a CROISSANT.

I don't want to sound elitist. These things are just not that uncommon, and I am always somewhat surprised that so many people seem to have never heard of them.

Funk's better half: When you say you go to an AF bakery to study, do you mean to take baking classes or to study law stuff? I assume you are talking Flour Girls, right? I would be interested in baking classes, if that is what you mean.

[Mrs. Funk]

Funk's better half: When you say you go to an AF bakery to study, do you mean to take baking classes or to study law stuff? I assume you are talking Flour Girls, right? I would be interested in baking classes, if that is what you mean.

Yes, I'm talking about Flour Girls. They have free Wi-Fi and have relatively little business between the hours of 2-5PM so I'll often hunker down and study law school stuff.

Unfortunately, I can't help you out with the baking classes thing, though I'm sure there's an Relief Society Enrichment group devoted to it in a Stake in Zion near you!

[Shakey]

Yes, I'm talking about Flour Girls. They have free Wi-Fi and have relatively little business between the hours of 2-5PM so I'll often hunker down and study law school stuff.

Unfortunately, I can't help you out with the baking classes thing, though I'm sure there's an Relief Society Enrichment group devoted to it in a Stake in Zion near you!

I was hoping that they had classes there. I used to bake many, many years ago. I paid for pastry school in the last year, but bread interests me more than pastries.

[OhioBlue]

Yes, I'm talking about Flour Girls. They have free Wi-Fi and have relatively little business between the hours of 2-5PM so I'll often hunker down and study law school stuff.

I like that place. Live right in that general area, in fact. I think what you are talking about has to be true...it's hard to get used to actual good food when the definition of eatin' good means The Choice is Yours at Chuckarama or sister christensen's chicken cacciatore casserole. it's not even about food snobbery per se, it's just that people don't like 'different.'

btw i have been told i shouldn't call myself a foodie because i don't eat out a lot (very rarely in fact) and spend a ton of money at the world's best restaurants. I'm just a guy who likes to cook and doesn't like paying for things if he can make them better at home.

[Jeff Lebowski]

btw i have been told i shouldn't call myself a foodie because i don't eat out a lot (very rarely in fact) and spend a ton of money at the world's best restaurants. I'm just a guy who likes to cook and doesn't like paying for things if he can make them better at home.

Don't mind DDD. He's harmless.

[TripletDaddy]

Don't mind DDD. He's harmless.

Hey, I never said that!

Although I don't disagree with it. How can you be a foodie and rarely eat out or follow restaurants? This goes against the basics of The Official Foodie Handbook.

I have never met a foodie that preferred to eat at home.

Also, being a foodie does not mean spending a ton of money. It means finding the most interesting food.

Based off Ohio's posts, I think he is more accurately a cook/chef/gourmet. And there is nothing wrong with that. Cooking is awesome.

I knew he was not a foodie when he went to Chicago, ate hot dogs, and posted here asking for tips on where to eat.

[YOhio]

There are few things more lame than self-proclaimed 'foodies.' Though I did get a kick out of nikuman claiming for years that he's a food snob then admitting that he got fat from Burger King.

[TripletDaddy]

There are few things more lame than self-proclaimed 'foodies.' Though I did get a kick out of nikuman claiming for years that he's a food snob then admitting that he got fat from Burger King.

I think OhioBlue is the only one on CUF to gloss himself a foodie.

So I concur with you.