Power Ties and Prosciutto (Spa Bar - Sacramento, CA)
Posted by Garrett McCord on Well Fed on the Town.
Recently some friends and I went to Spa Bar, the special happy hour that Spataro’s in Sacramento holds on weekdays from 2-6:30. Spataro’s is the super fancy restaurant owned by the Paragary’s restaurant group, and this particular place is the main hangout for their head honcho chef, Kurt Spataro.Spataro’s is located on L and 14th, in the lobby of the Meridian Plaza across from the park and near Mason’s. It’s in a very busy corporate area of downtown Sacramento, and you can tell. The place is swarmed with suits. Honestly, it felt like I was back in Orange County again. The entire crowd was all power ties, Blackberries, and Prada. Everyone was very “look-who-he’s-with-and-what-is-she-wearing?”
ANYWAYS, back to the restaurant, it’s a nice place, very fancy, love the outside as the view is pleasant, and it’s a good people watching perch. We did have a small issue with service, but in all honesty the place was totally swamped (the place is popular, even on a Wednesday) and there was only one waitress and she was in the weeds, poor girl.
Still, all these little negatives are nothing. The food is fabulous. I started with the chef’s special cocktail of the night: lemon juice, lemon vodka, and freshly muddled cherries. It was a fruity and refreshing light summer drink that I’ll want to re-create at home.
We started out with some simple French fries. They weren’t too greasy, but nice and crisp and salted with some shredded Parmesan cheese. The deep fried asparagus was to die for, they were bursting with flavor and were perfectly salted by the fry batter; served with aioli it was a little slice of heaven.
We also ordered house-made mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, however they were out of mozzarella so we got a large plate of deliciously salty and well aged (and house-made by Kurt Spataro himself) prosciutto drizzled with a peppery olive oil, and given a nice crack or two of fresh pepper. Mmm-MM!
The bread was also quite yummy. We were served slices of fresh baguette and some ciabatta that had a light rub of olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper. We had a bit of marinara sauce to dip it in as well so the bread front was well covered.
The biggest plus? Each dish was only $2-$4, each drink between $2-$6. Each plate fed about 3 people when shared. We got a drink each, four different delicious plates, plus tax and tip paid about $27, I think. The place also serves lunch and dinner, with menus that look equally frugal and deliciously Italian in their origins.
Overall, a fantastic experience. Good food, good drink, and a good place for a great price! We all plan to go back again!
Spa Bar - in Spataro Restaurant and Bar
1415 L Street
Sacramento, California
916.440.8888
