Spread the news

My mother (who lives in San Diego) recently ate at a restaurant there called Spread, in North Park. Although Spread sports a chic, modernist interior and features a menu of "nouveau comfort food," their claim to fame, for which they were recently featured on Food Network's Unwrapped, is their series of, well, spreads. Specifically, they produce dozens -- more than a hundred -- of varieties of gourmet peanut butter-based spreads. So impressed was she, she ordered a few to have sent to us: Cinnamon cherry, chili mango and dark chocolate curry.

I'm normally cynical about such gimmickry but I have to admit: These are pretty good and surprisingly different one from the other. The cinnamon cherry is chunky, and both the cinnamon and cherry flavors manage to stand out against the peanut base. The chili mango, smoother, has a nice mild burn tempered by the mango's sweetness. And the dark chocolate curry has a Nutella-like texture and color, the curry a fairly subtle backnote that adds a floral layer to the complex flavor of the spread. Pass the milk.

All the spreads are hand-made; the 4 oz. jars run from $5 to about $9. No refrigeration required. They can be ordered online at Style Peanut Spread's website. Due to their recent exposure on Unwrapped, however, be prepared to wait for yours.

Spread
2879 University Ave, San Diego