With the focus of the evening aural rather than oral delights I still had no intention of dining poorly before seeing Soundgarden and as such my decision to visit Lark was predicated by its early opening hour, relative proximity to the venue, and strong praise from trusted palates – the later something I questioned soon after my arrival as I found the restaurant empty save for two servers and the kitchen staff, my entire seventy minute visit essentially a two server to one diner experience leading to ample conversation about the restaurant, the food, the city, and music with a woman and her mother finally breaking up my privately catered experience just as the check arrived.
With a setting haute-bistro and service as exemplary as one would expect given the above caveats it was with some regret that I eschewed the nicely priced selection of sweet wines and sipped water to assure minimal interruption in my concert experience, particularly as much of what I ordered would have gone brilliantly with the $10 Tokaji or sweet Riesling but beginning with a toothsome house made baguette and rather disappointing butter the four savories and one sweet I ordered would all prove quite excellent, and none save for the $19 Foie Gras more than $14.
Allowing the kitchen to determine pacing and order the meal my first two plates of the evening arrived in relatively rapid succession – the first a dense and creamy block of Pleasant View Farm’s Foie Gras en terrine with a small dish of kumquat-vanilla preserves plus toasted brioche points and the second an inspired plate of warm roasted eel resting atop New Potato salad and tinged with saba; the liver expectedly nice but the later actually better as the eel’s smooth, goassamer finish layered well with the supple and earthy potatoes while the saba added its characteristic sweet acidity…the whole dish truly unique and, in my opinion, a reason in and of itself to recommend anyone who hasn’t been to visit Lark.
Flipping through Chef Sundstrom’s cookbook while I waited for my second course the chef stopped by for a brief moment to say hello and chat about his philosophy and promising that the next dish “should be really good” as they’d been out foraging for some of the ingredients just the day prior his words would prove true as the “Crispy Liberty Farm Duck Leg with Walnuts and Shaw Island Quince” was Parisian bistro quality while the “Half-Wild” mushrooms sautéed in garlic and olive oil with a touch of sea salt were truly outstanding; a simple preparation of top quality ingredients rich, supple, and incredibly aromatic.
Finishing off the evening with dessert and a cup of Café Vita coffee the sweets would prove every bit as bistrocentric as the savories as a fresh local Bartlett pear tarte tatin arrived drizzled in rum-spiked caramel and crowned with house made vanilla bean ice cream slowly melting over the hot, buttery pastry; a great end to a meal I’d originally planned around bigger things, but one than held its own in the ‘memorable’ category and definitely warrants a return if and when I have a larger group with whom to explore more of Sundstrom’s cuisine.