Brian had a scoop each of molasses and cinnamon, and I had ginger pear agave sorbet with vanilla ice cream-- scooped by Tara herself. The portions were generous, and the prices were very reasonable. More flavors, excellent quality, and less expensive than Ici...what's not to like?
Then onward to the Cheeseboard! Even though I live in Aptos (south of Santa Cruz), I check the pizza page on their website weekly to see if I need to drive up to Berkeley or to beg my friend Keith to bring one down. Brian and I hate to go out on New Year's Eve, and we decided that eating a pizza with: sweet potatoes, onions, mozzarella, parmesan, and arugula-hazelnut pesto while watching dvds would be the perfect celebration. And it was...with half left over for the next day! 'Tis the Saison!
On Sunday, we continued our debauchery with dinner at Saison. I had just read about this new restaurant in the SF Chronicle and was intrigued. Luck was on our side, and surprisingly, we scored a reservation right away. Saison is in a renovated stable with a courtyard and an enormous kitchen that opens into a small dining room. The dining room is rustic and comfortable. The tables are wooden without tablecloths, accompanied by patio chairs with cushions. There was classic rock on the stereo, and we played "Name that tune" between the many courses. We were seated at a corner table with a view of the kitchen. Our host/server gave us our menus to peruse while he poured us glasses of champagne. A gracious touch that reminded me of dining in Italy. Our delectable amuse-bouche was a sweetwater oyster with osetra caviar, little leeks, oyster jus, and seaweed. This was the most extravagant first bite I've ever been served, and it set my expectations high. The warm leeks complemented the oyster well, and the osetra heightened the delicious brininess. Even Brian loved it, and he isn't overly fond of oysters.
The next course was their farm egg with smoked butter and osetra. At first we thought this would be similar to the salty and maple syrupy "signature egg" at Manresa in Los Gatos, but this egg was a completely different savory dish. It was very rich and luxurious with the soft yolk, osetra, and smoky butter. We also thought there was a tiny piece of bacon, even though it wasn't mentioned.
Our third course was cauliflower prepared three ways: roasted, pureed, and shaved raw with vadouvan (French curry spices), yali pear, and citron. I am not a big curry fan, so this didn't wow me like the first two courses. I did enjoy the puree with the amazing yali pears and citron. Brian LOVED this dish. (A side note about this dish....the staff was very conscientious about bringing new cutlery for each course, but there was only a fork for this--which was a bit odd. The roasted florets were quite large, and I had to use my butter knife. Uncouth, I know, but I got tired of manhandling my food with my fork.)
The next offering was the "eats shoots and leaves" course, as we called it. Couldn't resist. It was written on the menu as "carmelized shoots, leaves & flowers, roots stewed with bonito." Even though I didn't cook the traditional Southern turnip greens with a dime on New Year's Day to bring prosperity for the year, I consider this dish a gussied-up substitution. This was one of my favorite dishes. I would've never thought to pair turnip roots and greens with bonito broth.
Our next root vegetable dish, "little beets slow-roasted with hibiscus and bone marrow," was hit and miss for us. I thought the sauce had too much of a vinegary aroma, but the Dirty Girl beets were delicious. (We buy our beets from Dirty Girl at the Santa Cruz Farmers' Market, and they are the nicest people. So glad that Joshua Skenes supports them.) Neither of us liked the bone marrow. Not a fault of the kitchen, just not our thing. This was the third time I've tried it, and it's never made a convert out of me.
Ahhhh....the main event! The poularde, whole roasted with podi spices, almond milk, and natural jus. It was accompanied by kale wrapped around foie gras. We thought kale and burrata was decadent; this was a whole other echelon! We spied the prepped poulardes when we walked through the kitchen on our way to our table and could smell them roasting during the earlier courses. They smelled and tasted as wonderful as they looked coming out of the oven. Very moist and succulent meat. I enjoyed the podi spices much more than the vadouvan.
Our dessert was a chocolate-walnut tartlet with salted caramel ice cream. Sadly, the tartlet was a dry, crumbly mess, but the salted caramel ice cream redeemed it. The ice cream was divine (as good as Bi-rite Creamery), and we were tempted to lick our bowls.
All in all, it was a lovely dinner with one BIG complaint: the wine pairing cost. Not really the cost, but the UNINFORMED consent. The menu did not have a price for the meal, and it did not mention wine at all. The Chronicle article (from Dec. 21st) mentioned that dinner was $70 pp, so that's what we were expecting. When I didn't see the wine pairing cost listed on the menu (We also didn't receive a wine list.) and our server kept pouring wine, I naively thought that the wine was included. We have eaten tasting menus at: Cyrus, Gary Danko, Alinea, Charlie Trotter, Tru, etc. (you get the picture.), and the cost of the wine pairing is ALWAYS listed. My issue with Saison is that the wine pairing price should have been stated, so I could have made an informed decision. I might have opted for the wine anyway but maybe not. I am not a big drinker and usually only consume one glass at dinner, maybe two on special occasions. I even mentioned this to our server, and he didn't say anything. (I left three half glasses of wine on the table.) Imagine our surprise when the bill came (Lavender shortbread with sea salt softened the blow.), and our meals were $80 pp, plus $50 for the wine pairing. Perhaps they've raised their prices for 2010.
On the flip side, our server was incredibly gracious when my husband told him that he doesn't drink. The server brought him chardonnay and pinot noir grape juice in stemware that matched mine. Brian sometimes feels self-conscious about drinking soft drinks at fine dining establishments. Big kudos to our server for making Brian feel more included.
Did we enjoy Saison? Absolutely. With all the love and labor that goes into each dish, it is worth $80 pp. However, Saison should be more up front about the cost of the meal and wine, so diners don't leave with a bad taste in their mouths.
