My husband and I went to Spire this afternoon for lunch. Â We both ordered the Walleye sandwich with kalamatra olive egg salad with house salad. Â I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this combo was! Â The flavors truly made my mouth very happy! Â
The house salad had a wonderful dressing with aged cheddar cheese. Â I couldn't stop myself from trying to eat all of the salad and sandwich. Â Which I could not do. Â (The portion size is very generous) Â
Even though the restuarant was very busy, our service was excellent. Â
We are very lucky to have such a wonderful restuarant in our area. Â No need to drive to Chicago for high end dishes! Â The price of this meal was very fair. Â (10 dollars per plate) Â
(BTW you HAVE to try the Bacon Spire Beer! Â It is amazing!)
I can't wait to go for dinner!
Spire's model of local and seasonable ingredients is all the rage in the trendier places I frequent in DC (where I live), Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and other culinary hotspots I get to visit often. I hoped Brad would find his stride in a restaurant, but wasn't sure how he would be received in NW Indiana.
I had the opportunity to visit in November while in Chicago for a conference. I rented a car and drove down to meet some friends, no small investment of time and money just to eat at a restaurant. It was a pilgrimage of sorts, back to my hometown, but primarily to try out Spire just over a month into full operation.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. From the decor (centering on some impressively crafted birds made from Lake Michigan driftwood) to the cuisine, Brad and his team have hit this out of the park. If this place opened in a major city, he'd be on the hot list of must-go places (in fact, Spire would outshine many of the places in DC created by some of Top Chef's best and brightest). That his model is built on showcasing what is found within 100 miles, and cooking seasonably and organically, makes this all the more impressive (as another commenter put it, this is the midwest in the middle of winter!).
I started with some casual conversation over drinks as my friends arrived. There was no push to turn the table. The menu was well proportioned--enough choices to please a range of diners but not overwhelming. In this age when chefs are prone to dress up descriptions of dishes with pretense, it was refreshing to see (on the menu and in the dishes) a straightforward presentation of ingredients that called attention to the main elements of the dish.
I started with the house-smoked trout with roasted beets. The trout was perfectly smoked, delicate in flavor and just the right moisture level. The accompanying beets were just right, roasted and finished with a touch of vinaigrette.
I moved on to the bison filet. Technically, this was perfectly executed--seared on the outside to the right char and rare on throughout the middle. In taste, it may have been the best piece of red meat I've ever eaten. It infused with richness that beef rarely offers and was so tender it melted. I was worried the creamed leek sauce that accompanied might overpower the dish, but it was a fitting side. This entree was alone worth the trip.
I finished with the carrot cake, which was playfully served in three parts. Moist, balanced flavor, attractive presentation.
The service was capable and pleasant with only a slight hiccup here or there--I had to ask for a fork when my entree was served, so I guess there's minor refining to be done on that end.
I want to see Spire work out and so far, Brad and his team seem to be off to a wonderful start. I will be determined to make it back soon and see what is cooking.
Living and dining in the San Francisco Bay Area creates a high culinary standard due to the diverse and high quality restaurant scene. The mild climate also creates a situation where many restaurants are able to offer organic, locally grown ingredients. Â year-round. Thus, I was apprehensive whether such a difficult culinary model could be achieved in a small town in the Midwest in the middle of winter.
Fortunately, Spire far exceeded my expectations, delivering high quality food at reasonable prices. I added photos of each course of our meal. Local residents should support this restaurant, as chef's of this quality are rare outside of large cities.
Pros:
-Excellent food quality. The chef creates very interesting food combinations, some of which we questioned on paper, but worked very well when we tasted them.
-We were told that the menu items rotate every few weeks with a few "favorites" that stay through menu rotations. (This is typically the sign of a highly engaged chef, catering to available ingredients while keeping the kitchen staff on their toes by not continuously making the same dishes for months or years.
-The restaurant is brand new with a very modern style. We were told that much of the art work is by local artists and can actually be purchased if you are so inclined. The dining area is lined with windows over looking a golf course that is probably more picturesque outside of the dreary winter. The restaurant also had an appropriately sized bar.
-Prices were very fair for the quality of food.
Cons:
-While our waitress was very attentive, she could have been a little more friendly.
Other items:
-The lunch menu is much more simplistic than the dinner menu. If you have the option, I'd recommend going for dinner. Â However, the dinner prices are more expensive than the lunch prices, as is typical with most restaurants of this quality.
-Not a con from my view, but the menu may not be initially appealing to a picky Midwestern palate. While they do offer "meat and potatoes" (hamburger/fries at lunch and ribeye/potatoes at dinner), many of the dishes had much more complex flavors. Take a risk and order something that you wouldn't normally order!
-Again not a con from my view, but the portion size isn't the 2000 calorie and 2-meal portion size that you might get from a typical chain restaurant like Applebee's, Chili's, or Friday's. Portion size is the correct and appropriate size for a high quality meal.
My husband and I went to Spire Farm to Fork recently for dinner. The restaurant was beautiful. We started with 2 small dinner rolls, which were quickly devoured. Sadly, we never asked if we wanted more. Â Next, we had the flatbread, very good, but again, small portion. We both upgraded to the egg and bacon salad, egg was a little under cooked, and again, tiny portion. For our entree, I had the pasta special and my husband had the sea bass. Mine was very good, but the portion was about half a cup in a huge bowl. Â The sea bass was some of the best my husband ever had, but it was served with some apples and other fruit that were ice cold. The cold and the hot did not go well together. Again, extremely small portion. It would have been greatly benefitted with some starchy side. Lastly, we had the pecan tart and s'more dessert. Portion size way too small, and the s'more was almost frozen. Â Bottom line, for $140 bill, we left hungry. Which is saying something since I weigh about 100 pounds!
Review Source:Went to Spire for lunch today and was thrilled. Â Dishes on menu were innovative but still familiar. Â My BLT was delish!!
The freshness of the ingredients could be tasted in each bite.
The overall atmosphere is beautiful and it is nice to have such a pretty place here in LaPorte. Â
And I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the fresh herbs on the table. Â We snipped some chives on our soup and the flavor was amazing.
Good job. Â Can't wait to try dinner (and lunch again.)
Had dinner at Spire last night. Â I have enjoyed Brad's creations before, and was excited to see what he would do with his own restaurant. Â The service was very good and the decor is very inviting without being stuffy. Â The food is amazing! Â Had the chicken and wild rice soup, which was creamy and delicious. Â The brined pork chop was tender and cooked to order. Â The fresh cutting herbs at the table were a nice touch! Â Will definitely come again!
Review Source:If you are near Laporte or Michigan City and hungry, you are crazy not to try Spire. It is easy to find off Johnson Road at the Legacy Hills Golf Club. Nothing like a golf club restaurant though, Spire would fit in anywhere in Chicago: high end decor, amazingly creative sandwiches (we only came for lunch on Sunday), nice wine list and great wait staff. I can't recommend this beautiful restaurant enough. Husband had bison burger with house salad; I had open faced veggie sandwich, both great on house made breads. House Chardonnay was excellent, unoaked, fruity and only $5/glass. The coffee is a must try. We have a multitude of coffee makers at home, but have never had a presentation like this: beautiful individual drip cups, fine rich coffee with the best cream and sugars. Dessert was a light, creative fall concoction of a spice cake round topped with pumpkin mousse and white chocolate shavings. This lunch was a pleasure from start to finish. Cannot recommend highly enough. And the views were just beautiful, Can't wait to see it in the winter. GO!
Review Source:This restaurant only opened during this past week. As such, I was pretty impressed with both food and service...considering the operation hasn't had a ton of practice yet.
We arrived for dinner around 9pm on Saturday night. We were acknowledged by 2 servers and then the hostess brought us to our table. Being in a country club, you might think this restaurant would be pretty fancy, but the decor is approachable, not stuffy or over-the-top and the servers are wearing dark jeans with black button-downs and long bistro aprons. There are live herbs growing on all the tables-fun to season your food with and pretty.
To start, we had corn cakes topped with BBQ pulled pork and pepper jelly. Very yummy, the order was 4 so we each ate 2. Bread is served before the meal, and the type rotates. We had apple butter jam, small round rolls, and fresh butter. Soup or salad is served with the entrees: we shared a bowl of butternut squash soup and creamy chicken with wild rice soup. Great flavor! Only issue was one bowl wasn't quite warm enough. For our entrees he had bison meatloaf with tomato jam, served over potato gratin. This really stole the show. The meatloaf was tender and flavorful, and the slight sweetness of the tomato jam complimented it perfectly. The cheesy potatoes were lovely...I could've eaten an entire bowl of them! I had the herb marinated chicken with maple-pecan wild rice and roasted root vegetables. The chicken was moist, tender, and full of flavor. The rice was nicely cooked and not over-seasoned. I think the vegetables were parsnips, carrots, and 2 other unidentifiable things...my root veggie knowledge is somewhat lacking. For dessert, we shared 2 dips of ice cream. Thankfully, they were human-sized dips, because we were pretty full already. Vanilla-honey and chocolate walnut. The honey and walnut added depth to the vanilla and chocolate-very good! Shortbread biscuits accompany the ice cream. There were a couple sorbet flavors too, all made in-house. The beer and wine list is ample, with bottles & drafts priced at around $4. Various varietals are available by the glass.
Our total bill for 2 entrees, an app, 2 craftbrew bottled beers, and a glass of wine? $66. Very reasonable for the quality of the preparation and ingredients. Our server was friendly, prepared to answer ingredient questions, and it was very obvious she was trying to do a great job. Hopefully they all have the same attitude.
My biggest gripe? Why make a production of how everything is locally sourced, within 250 miles, and then import your table salt from the Himalayas? That doesn't make any sense at all. The novelty of scraping/grating your salt off a little pink block isn't lost on me...but really? Massive carbon footprint much? The chef won't stock the bar with pineapple juice because it isn't local. It's a lot more local than sea salt from Nepal!
How can this restaurant get better?
Fully stock the bar with mixers and bitters.
Have a cocktail list...it doesn't have to be long, maybe just 6-9 drinks, but it would really help the servers out. These girls are not educated in drinks, which can make for a bit of awkward back-and-forth i.e. "Can you make a Dark & Stormy/Old Fashioned/Manhattan?" "I'm not sure...what's in it? ... Let me check."
Let the servers taste the beers, wines, and cocktails.
Keep a thermometer near the soups...temp them every so often.
SIGNAGE!!! When it's dark out, the driveway is hard to find, and we only saw a sign for the country club (Legend Hills), not the restaurant. We would've never even known it was there if we hadn't been looking for it.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
