Spread - Upscale vegetarian cuisine
North Park is experiencing an overdue revitalization within San Diego. At the intersection of University Ave and 30th street, stores are getting new face lifts and the La Boheme condo complex is being built. In the center of all this activity is Spread, which bills itself as serving vegetarian comfort food. After many months of driving by, I finally stopped in to try it myself.
Spread is a very funky restaurant with a style all its own. When you walk in you’ll notice that even though it is a small space, it is very open. The decor is mix between a retro restaurant and a bar with a live DJ. There are a couple “bubble chairs” hanging from the ceiling, and a professional turntable in the back corner pumping out an eclectic mix.
After ordering our food, Andrew (the owner), brought out one dish at a time so that it could be shared by both of us. He doesn’t recommend each person getting their own plate. What I immediately noticed about the food was how many flowers there are. It seems that each dish is garnished with an abundance of flowers and we are encouraged to make sure we eat each one. For example, this picture is the truffled almond bowl.
After getting past all the flowers, I discovered how flavorful the food was. Each dish seemed simple enough when it was placed on the table. But taking a bite revealed a totally different experience. The vegetable medley was a pasta dish with an assortment of seasonings. The truffled almonds were very tasty, but we couldn’t finish the entire bowl b/c the oil was too rich.
The only word of caution I have about Spread is the price of each entree. Although each dish is very simple, the price is a bit steeper than I would have expected. The price of each entree runs between $16 and $20. This would be expected for other upscale restaruants, but at Spread the portions are very small. For example, the vegetable medley was just a small bowl of corkscrew pasta and it cost $18. The duck egg fritatta cost $20 and was a bit more filling. In the next picture, I’m holding up the duck egg fritatta plate and to the right is the small bowl of pasta (notice in the background the bubble chair suspended from the ceiling).
With as much as I spent, I would hope to not leave feeling hungry.
Overall, if you want gourmet vegetarian food and aren’t worried about the price, you’ll be very happy dining at Spread.
Spread
2879 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92104
