CREATIVE SPARK
Studio City eatery offers Italian woodfire cooking with some interesting twists
By Richard Foss
"A woodfire grill? You really love barbecue, don't you?" asked my editor when I told her what restaurant I was reviewing this week. No, I insisted. I was going to another place, but it was too busy, so I just ended up at Spark Woodfire Cooking in Studio City. It was only a coincidence that, out of all the nearby eateries, I picked that one. Really.
I might have even convinced her. Still, I do like the perfume a wood fire can give a good piece of meat, and some of the best pizzas I've ever had came out of wood-burning ovens. As it happens, the food at Spark has just a hint of smokiness rather than a bacon-y blast. This is appropriate, because it looks to Tuscany rather than Texas for inspiration. Italian woodfire cooking is more about grilling than smoking, but it lends plenty of flavor to everything this restaurant does.
Well, almost everything. The chopped green salad with crisped onions and Gorgonzola ($5.95) had no trace of smokiness and was just fine without it. The lightly sweet balsamic dressing was a perfect foil for the cheese, and the idea of making croutons out of deep-fried polenta was near genius. I like just about anything that can be done with polenta, but this jumped right up there among my favorites. On another visit, I tried a cup of Tuscan bean soup called ribollita that included kale, onions, carrots, and, allegedly, pork shank ($3.50). I found no trace of the shank meat in my bowl, although there was plentiful evidence of it in the savory stock. It was a good cold-day soup, hearty and warming.
For my first dinner at Spark, I ordered a mixed grill of roasted chicken, herb- and pepper-crusted pork leg, and a kind of Italian meatloaf called polpettone ($14.95). The latter had beef, pork, veal, and mushrooms ground together and topped with herbed tomato sauce. It was nothing like the meatloaf I grew up with and all the better for it. (Sorry, Mom, if you're reading this.) The mushrooms added to the texture, which was very moist and rich. The chicken was good, though not outstanding, but the roasted pork leg was definitely the best part of that meal. The spice rub of herbs, garlic, fennel, pepper, and olive oil made the dish intensely savory, something to nibble a bit with your eyes closed, the better to focus on all the good things happening in your mouth.
The three meats came with a stack of caramelized onions and a choice of roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes with hazelnuts. I selected the roasted potatoes, which was the only unsatisfactory item: They hadn't been turned frequently enough while cooking, so they were fine on one side but dry and tough on the other.
Another time I tried a thin-crust pizza with Parmesan cheese, arugula, and prosciutto. Topping a pizza with a salad is a good idea in terms of both taste and texture, though it makes the slices a bit difficult to pick up neatly. It was easiest to fold the cracker-thin crust, with its light topping of mozzarella, around the arugula and prosciutto and eat it like a sandwich, New York-style. (Those who prefer a thicker "Neopolitan [sic]"-style crust may request it, and this might be less challenging to handle.) The pizza was very good, but if they cut the prosciutto smaller it would be easier to eat.
Both meals included a complimentary basket of bread with a rough tapenade of olives and tomatoes, and I had to be careful not to fill up on that because it was so good. I accompanied each dinner with wine, once choosing from the short but well-selected by-the-glass list, the other time trying a house special offering three two-ounce tastes of different wines for $9. The latter is a fine idea, highly recommended.
I had room for dessert on only one visit: something called a chocolate hazelnut Brasilia ($5.95). It was described as a flourless chocolate cake on a hazelnut crust, which is accurate in a way but didn't really prepare me for the explosion of taste in the first bite. It was like the best, creamiest chocolate silk pie I've ever had.
Spark probably acquired its name from the imagery of the woodfire grill, but there's a spark of creativity around this place, too.Published: 01/22/2004
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