FOOD FANTASY?
DESPITE THE NAME, SPIRITS & TALES IS A WELL-GROUNDED HOTEL RESTAURANT
Spirits & Tales sounds like the name of a short story collection found in a bookstore’s fantasy aisle, but it’s actually the name of an of-the-moment restaurant in Oakland at the first boutique Autograph Collection hotel from Marriott in Pennsylvania.
With a 10th-floor view of the neighborhood, the stylish spot at the Oaklander Hotel offers a counterpoint to another welldone hotel restaurant, Whitfield at Ace Hotel in East Liberty, which opened in 2015.
And while that still uber-hip spot showcases an ethically sourced meat menu with Bethany Zozula in charge, Spirits & Tales features a more vegetable-driven selection with Jessica Lewis running the kitchen. That’s not to say you can’t get a juicy burger or steak frites. It’s just that the menu features more vegetarian- and vegan-friendly options.
Pittsburghers know Ms. Lewis from her positions co-leading kitchens at or, the Whale at the Distrikt Hotel, Downtown, as well as at Merchant Oyster Bar in Lawrenceville. Before that, she started Carota Cafe, one of the first groups to pass through Smallman Galley in the Strip. She had also worked in the opening staff at The Commoner in Kimpton Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh, cooked for VIPs at Heinz Field and was a contestant on “Hell’s Kitchen” with Gordon Ramsay in its second season.
What’s cool about both standout hotel restaurants is that they’re some of the showiest real estate in the city run by accomplished women chefs. What I like about Spirits & Tales, in particular, is that — unlike some other new hotel properties — this one has it together from top to bottom, from the valet to the bar, to the service, generally, and interactions with hotel staff.
The gracious food and beverage director, Michael Goldberg, a Whitfield alumnus, oversees the restaurant.
Unlike the lobby at Ace, which often feels like a party, the Spirits & Tales lounge offers what feels like privacy (even if isn’t), with rooms-within-the-room anchored by oversized velvet couches and a glasswalled fireplace. A runway bisects the space, and a communal table is home to laptop dwellers during the day, and the cocktail crowd at night.
Follow that runway past the singleline bar to the dining room that beckons with its plush sapphire blue booths and cushy seating at round tables. Unless you’re seated beside loud talkers, there’s little chance you’ll overhear diners at the next table, since there’s plenty of space.
While there’s an understated sexy that the place is going for at night, don’t rule out Spirits & Tales for breakfast or lunch. That morning meal may start with a perfectly lovely cup of local KLVN-brand coffee to accompany a diner’s communal workspace setup, with Grant Green jazz or Dean Martin on the playlist.
Go the pastry shop/bakery route with a satisfying galette ($6), layered with potato, leeks, and goat cheese, or the French breakfast with an excellent baguette from Squirrel Hill’s Five Points Artisan Bakeshop with jam ($10). And yes, there’s avo toast for vegans, with cashew cheese, shaved radish and sesame ($10) as well as pain perdu if you’re prepared for the carb coma afterward, French toast dressed in squash apricot marmalade, ricotta cream and real maple syrup.
The sandwich with an egg over medium is layered with crisp bacon, onion jam, arugula and fermented garlic on a potato roll, served with greens ($11). It’s the morning meal version of casual decadence. Afternoon or evening, consider the Jubilee Hilltop burger sold for lunch and dinner, with Comte, roasted tomatoes, garlic aioli and lettuce on challah ($15). They’re both Instagram-worthy sandwiches with full-throttle flavors.
Dinner continues with Ms. Lewis’ bold thru-line of flavors with sides and condiments, such as black olive and anchovy aioli and a red wine-date cheese with Egypt-inspired dukkah for socca ($8). A chickpea-flour pancake or flatbread is my favorite small plate for its papery lightness and savory accompaniments.
Overall, I’d like one less ingredient per plate. One example is the roasted carrots small plate. At the moment it’s served with poblano chili and caraway salt and avocado cream — and it’s a lot ($9). Same with the highly savory beef cheeks that are livened up by ravigote, with a porcini consomme and pickled carrots ($14).
Don’t skip the greens. They’re among the best salads I’ve had in a restaurant around town. They’re just right in terms of salt, dressing and stuff, though there’s a good chance there’s some kind of cheese involved, such as the goat cheese included in the kale, cauliflower and chickpea salad, which I usually skip. That’s just a preference.
The mains lean toward conservative, like a $42 steak frites also from Jubilee Hilltop, with an option to swap fries for healthier greens. A half-chicken ($28) with shallots and creminis are dolled up with truffle butter, a move I’m never in favor of unless I’m paying for truffles shaved tableside. Truffle butter may not be as dastardly as the fake butter served on popcorn at movie theaters, but it’s still not great. I am, however, a fan of the horseradish gnocchi Parisienne ($16), seared in brown butter, studded with oyster mushrooms and kale (that horseradish in the name is a whisper in the dish).
The latter is emblematic of the easygoing confidence of the kitchen and Ms. Lewis’s style of cooking, with dishes that in general please everyone, without veering all over the map.