Energetic industrial space with great wine list, especially the "Leap of Faith" choices, which feature some truly hard to find and under appreciated wine regions. Nice presentation and creative dishes. Only tried the small plates this time - will definitely be back for a full meal.
The food is creative and seasonal, very "blais" like. It did feel like it was trying too hard and that maybe we didn't pick the right time of year. The food was prepared very well with great presentations, just not the best flavor. That being said, the cocktails were great, the service was pretty good but not super knowledgeable given the unique preparations. A bit loud too. We will go back and it has promise, it just needs to find itself.
Visited The Spence last summer with the family, while clearly the setting is not quite meant for families the received us gladly and even prepared custom plates for the little ones. we spent a great evening there. cocktails were fun and delicious, and the food was really great, the oysters were good, the lamb fantastic, but the hamachi with sweetbread was the star, we end up ordering 2 hamachis!
The Spence may be the most pretentious eatery in midtown, and that's saying something. A kind of gangnam style culinary experience where the food and waitstaff try to be more than they are & as a consequence the 'dancing' is always a little off. Menus says foie gras, but you get pate. Raw tuna is paired with bone marrow. Entrees are delivered in dry ice infused glass domes. Staff doesn't accept responsibility for their errors. Wines nice.
Sep. 1999