Spritzburger - Brunch

I would say that I had been to Spritzburger before, but that is not precisely true.  I had been to its predecessor, Hearty for both brunch and dinner (while I did take pictures for brunch, I didn't actually blog about it.  Spritzburger is in the same location as Hearty was and has the same owner/chefs, the culinary team The Hearty Boys, but they have added an award winning Pastry Chef, Gale Gand, and their dinner menu has become more burger and housemade soda, instead of comfort food, focused.  Walking into the new restaurant, I noticed that while there were a few changes, it was still very similar to Hearty.  The color scheme is still light blue although the wallpaper on the back wall has changed and a large image of a chipmunk drinking a soda was added.  The wallpaper actually creeped me out a little.  It is a classic design that is either a bee or a flower, but if you look at it a certain way, it could also be an evil clown.  The white tablecloths that had been on the tables are now removed.  The classic bar is still in the dining room and, in addition to the sodas, the cocktails are also bubble based.  They also list a carbonated Malort shot on their menu which I think would be about the worst way that you could serve Malort because it would allow the flavor to linger, but that's me.  The brunch menu has not changed monumentally (the chocolate french toast is no longer on the menu), but that was kind of expected because there are some standards that are expected on a brunch menu.  We started things off with some Cheese Curds which were White Cheddar and breaded with Cornflakes and served with a Red Pepper and Artichoke Dipping Sauce.  The cheese was good and the breading had a nice crunch to it.  The curds themselves though, did not squeak when you bit into them.  This is a minor point because they did taste good, but the best cheese curds squeak even after being fried.  The dipping sauce though was perfect and I would have eaten it on its own.  It had a nice pepper flavor with a slightly tart finish from the artichoke.  There was also a pronounced garlic flavor and a chunky texture which very much complemented the artichoke and pepper flavors.

For my "main course", I had a spin on a shepherds pie called, surprisingly enough, the Shepherds Pie Redux.  It included a Cheddar Scallion Scramble, Sausage Gravy, and Root Vegetable Hashbrowns.  It was also served with a Biscuit and some excellent Strawberry Butter.  The hashbrowns were crisped and finely shredded, so I really couldn't tell if there was more than root vegetable in the hash.  I could definitely say though, due to the sweetness, that there was definitely sweet potatoes in it.  The cheddar scallion scramble was like an omelette buried under the hashbrowns and the sausage gravy added some meaty flavor.  There was, however, very little actual sausage in the gravy which would have been an improvement.  It was good, it could have been better.  It was nice to see the transformation of the space.  The food was still good and the staff was friendly and I will definitely make back for dinner.