Spork on Penn Ave has added a truly stunning option to their elegant and immersive 'One' dinner experience. On Mondays, the entire meal focuses on an amazing array of fresh and fermented vegetables stemming from their kitchen garden, and offered at a lower price point. As with the traditional One by Spork dinner, the vegetarian experience comes with a complement of many unique and highly pleasurable courses -- each including its own amazingly creative drink pairings. The non-alcoholic option is just as exquisitely crafted as the wine or cocktail pairings. The fulfilling flavors and colors of each and every dish, from appetizer bites to dessert and each of the five main courses in between, will certainly keep us coming back for more!  

After enjoying a truly amazing and memorable meal in January 2025, shortly after the One by Spork opening, we were eager to return in the summer to experience the full bounty of their garden, which fills a large adjoining lot. Even with our high expectations, Chef Christian Frangiadis and his team really knocked it out of the park. 

Our daughter, who saved a month's rent to return to Spork a few weeks before we did, excitedly reported that she enjoyed her second meal even better than the first. She particularly loved the three duck-inspired courses and encouraged us to return before they ran out of duck. So we coordinated with a friend to try the new Meatless Monday option.

It is hard to beat the smoked bass truffled tartelette, miso halibut, chicharrones with fondant potato and maple amazake ice cream from their opening month (Click here for details One by Spork: A Culinary Delight to Rule Them All)  But every single element of our vegetarian meal was a hit, flowing smoothly through distinct colors, textures, flavors and concepts from beginning to end.

It might be that after half a year, the team is really honing their art. At the end of this Meatless Monday experience, we both remarked that we enjoyed this meal even more than the first one. And we were so pleased to be able to share this experience with our friend, who works her own form of garden-to-table magic.

Meatless Monday Tasting Menu: One by Spork Style

Summer's bounty in small bites

As our group got settled among the round tables in the lounge area, the team began to bring an assortment of small, perfect bites.  

There was a round disc of thinly sliced potatoes, topped with gorgonzola and pickled onion. 

A perfectly compressed cube of charred watermelon with lots of delicious bits went perfectly with the NA welcome cocktail.

This was a refreshing Guava Spritz enriched with orange rind stock and verjus blanc.

The third bite was not listed on the menu that they send home with a small box of chocolates, but if memory serves, was a tasty roast turnip purée in a tartellete shell. 

Upside down ratatouille enjoyed with a bubbly

After the appetizer bites, we were seated at the large round table that surrounds a staging table.  This is where each delicious plate is assembled and finishing touches added to the drink pairings. 

While we enjoyed our bubblies, a very nice, crisp Sartori Love Story Sparkling Soave made from Garganega grapes from northern Italy or a rather sweet sparkling non-alcoholic (NA) wine from California, the chef's assembled the first main course. 

Sparkling wines: NA on left and Love Story on right

The rich buttery puff pastry crust was topped with perfectly roasted eggplant, zucchini, onions and sweet peppers. 

A swirl of basil thyme oil, pepito miso and a dollop of foamy tomato espuma finished this hearty tart.

Beet tartare & rosé

Next, we enjoyed a beautiful "tartare" of chopped red beets layered over golden beets. The earthy sweet beets were set off by a smooth, smoky cauliflower hummus. To one side, several pieces of vegetable charcuterie offered a umami-rich, toothsome contrast to the silky purée.

My husband and I chose different drink pairings so we could get a taste of everything. While we had enjoyed the sparkling soave better with the ratatouille, the housemade NA One rosé wine, a blend of red and white grape juice fermented in wood, set off the beets better than the Willakenzie Estate Rose 2023.

Rosé wines: NA on left and Willakenzie on right

"Cream" of mushroom soup & sake/amazake

The soup course bore a superficial resemblance to the seafood rye ramen we enjoyed in January, but the inky broth was completely different. 

Koji-inoculated rice, mushrooms and salt were fermented for 6 months, then centrifuged to separate the aqueous layer from the starch on the bottom and mushroom butter on top. This broth was then incubated with the blue algae spirulla to create an extremely tasty, rich, mushroom-washed broth that contained no starch or fat. 

Perfectly cooked rye ramen, some lion's mane mushrooms and chunks of black bean tempeh added textural interest, with a drizzle of truffle oil.

The ramen soup was paired with a truly smooth and delicious Okunomatsu ginjo sake, which we preferred over the non-alcoholic ginger amazake. The broth was the true star of the show, and we drank every last drop.

Koji beverages: NA amazake on left, sake on right

Spork garden green salad & orange wine

We then got to enjoy the freshest garden vegetables dressed with a vinaigrette made using sweet potato vinegar, which had also taken 6 months to create, and garnished with a zucchini blossom.

Spork has a certified urban farm, from which the day's harvest included greens, two types of tomatoes, cucumber, string beans, and this unusual vegetable which the Chef described as if a potato and radish had a baby. Apparently, the eggplant is from Japan, where it's name mizu nasu translates as "water eggplant." This eggplant was sliced and eaten raw; crisp and mildly sweet, it was quite delectable.

The salad, with its amazing vinaigrette that was good enough to drink (which we did), needed no extras like cheese or croutons. Although the pickled green strawberries added a nice tang. 

Orange wines: housemade NA on left, Vila Abellus on right

With the salad, we enjoyed a Spanish Vila Abellus Orange wine or the housemade 'One' orange wine. This was created by lacto-fermenting white grapes, letting them sit in their skins, and washing with wine tannin, star anise and cloves.

Eggplant-miso-ricotta filled agnolotti & our two favorite drinks of the evening

As we ate, we kept thinking that each course was getting better and better (and the first one was already fabulous). This course was our favorite. While it might be tied with the final main course for our favorite plate, this course was paired with our favorite wine and our favorite N/A beverage of the evening.

I absolutely love filled pastas -- a common theme from every culture that "touches the heart". I started a dumpling club to get together with friends to wrap not only various Chinese dim sum, but also Italian ravioli, Finnish karjalanpiirakkas, and Nepali momos. So it is perhaps not surprising that agnolotti filled with miso-ricotta and eggplant, which had been grilled with miso glaze and then pulsed with parmigiano, would appeal to me.

But it was the accompaniments, a vegan demiglace, sumac cream, blistered tomato, peas, mint and chive oil that added not only color, but lots of fantastic flavors. We were not the only guests to ask for a spoon so that we could scoop up every last drop after the agnolotti were gone!

Red wines: NA sumac blackberry shrub on left, Ferraris Agricola on right

The red wine was a rustic everyday drinking wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, called Ferraris Agricola Sant'Eufemia Ruche Di Castagnole Monferrato 2024. It had notes of rosebud, cherry, pomegranate and cranberry. The NA options was a sumac blackberry shrub made using red wine vinegar, honey, and a sumac infusion to add smokiness.

Cabbage Wellington & red wine

By now, we are starting to get full, but the last main course proved to be possibly even better! The Smoked Cabbage Wellington. I am not sure how they got such a meaty texture out of cabbage. It was marinated with mushroom garam masala, vinegar and miso, then smoked and finally seared. As with the dish's namesake, the puff pastry was lined with mushroom duxelles. Crispy carrots were scattered across the top, along with an edible pansy blossom.

Again, the sauces -- cognac dijon cream mushroom butter, chimichurri with aji amarillo peppers and tomato espuma elevated the dish. This time, the servers knew to pass out spoons. But that was not good enough for my husband, who actually licked his plate clean!

Red wines: NA on left, Bodega on right

A full-bodied Argentinian wine, Bodega El Parvenir Amauta Tennat 2021 was excellent (although we still preferred the humble Piedmont wine). The NA red was constructed from seasonal berries, cinnamon and other warming spices, cola, menthal, verjus rouge, and wildflowers.

Chocolate-zucchini miso brownie sundae & foam-topped digestif

Dessert consisted of a chocolate zucchini miso brownie, served with a crisp honeycomb of aerated milk chocolate, goat cheese rosemary ice cream, a bourbon caramel sauce (and I thought I heard him mention blueberry syrup). A perfect wrap-up to a perfect evening.

Not being coffee drinkers, we were not enamored by the digestif that had been infused with coffee, although we did enjoy the pistachio foam on top. The Castello di Meleto Vin Santo di Chianti Classico 2012 itself was probably delicious, but the coffee added too much bitterness for our taste (even though I adore amari such as the yuzu liqueur + Meletti Amaro we enjoyed back in January).

Digestifs: NA on left and Vin Santo cocktail on right

On this evening, we preferred the NA Digestif, which was topped with pandan and pistachio bubbles. 

The take-home

This was the most exquisite vegetarian meal that I have ever had. Each plate was perfect, with its own unique flavors and textures, inspiring us to clean our plates of every last drop. Words that came to mind to describe this meal resulted in the following Google search result:

You're looking for synonyms that capture the combined essence of "exquisite," "satisfying," and "sublime." These words together convey a feeling of intense, refined pleasure, awe, and complete fulfillment. 

I had commented in my New Year's dinner post that the flavors of that meal were "rich with kojis and other methods of fermenting, preserving and enriching flavors for winter enjoyment." 

Thankfully those long months taken to create the fermented accents -- including vegetable charcuterie, miso-spirulla broth, and sweet potato vinegar -- continued for their summer offerings. The rich, umami notes and brightness from these housemade products complemented fresh, seasonal produce from the garden for a truly luxurious vegetarian meal. 

And all this is available for $160, inclusive of all the courses, drinks, and even a take-home sampling of their chocolate program in which cacao beans are fermented and processed in house. And the best part is the opportunity to interact with the people behind all this delicious food and drink. We enjoyed hearing about the inspirations and stories behind each dish and each drink pairing, and the chance to talk to the chefs.

While I think the full One experience, which has even more courses (see One by Spork: A Culinary Delight to Rule Them All), is totally worthwhile, the Meatless Monday experience is just as satisfying. And at a price that is more than 40% less than the traditional One meal, it is a true bargain for those that might feel a little hesitant. 

Whether you choose the Chef's choice vegetarian Monday, or the original Chef's One dinner available Thursday through Sunday, book your own 'One' experience now!  

All dinners start at 6 pm. Be prepared to spend about 3 hours eating, drinking and learning about the inspiration behind the dishes and how they crafted the key components.

We plan to return for another meal before the duck is gone!

🐾 Spork is located on the corner of Penn Ave and S Graham st. They have a gravel parking lot across the street from the garden. Look for the open chain link fence gate on Penn Ave, between N Aiken Ave and S Graham St. 

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