This spinach salad is an excellent example of something I like to make at home mainly because I can control the size of the blue cheese crumbles. Also, this salad needs strawberries of high caliber and I knew the strawberries I had on hand would fit the bill nicely. In a restaurant, I usually just hope for the best with fruit quality. Most of the time, it's passable, but not anything that could be classified as good.
The only component that requires some attention is the balsamic vinaigrette; my version is a bit of Dijon mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper whisked together furiously with a fork until emulsified (meaning everything has combined and the olive oil isn't a separate layer on top). A whisk probably works better, but I just use a fork.
If you want to get cute, you could throw in blueberries instead and call it a "blue" spinach salad. Just a thought!
