Partly due to neglect..
and also lack of motivation since I'm still so behind on other posts. But hey, after seeing recent bloggers' posts on Savoie figured I should finally do it before I forget entirely!
My first visit was early October last year when I was on Fall Break. I met up with Darlene whom I have to thank for this lunch (as it was part of her research/work for Zagat SD). It used to be Niko's Steakhouse but recently was changed to Savoie Eatery (gosh, the word eatery conjures up greasy spoons and mom and pop diners as opposed to this sophisticated and over-the-top-restaurant-for-Chula-Vista) showcasing Italian/French fusion in the Spring of last year.
It's a beautiful and huge space with lots of seating inside and out.
The owners of Savoie also own Karina's and the now defunct La Tequila (which is now a Karina's). The decor is quite spectacular and there is a lot to take in.
Their menu (you may see it online here). I'm not sure if it's changed since then. we were given bread with butter as starters.
This was a nice touch, this mini stand for us to hang our bags or purses . Our server was an older Mexican gentleman; he was very attentive, gracious, and knowledgeable.
The appetizer that Darlene and I decided on was escargot in puff pastry with pesto sauce.
Yes, SNAILS.
I made the mistake of trying to touch the dish to reposition it (this, despite the server's warning that it was hot which I probably ignored or didn't hear). OMG, it hurt like an MF and I had to really bite my tongue...
I had to convince myself that it looked like "mushrooms" but it had that chewy texture that icked me out. Still, almost anything in puff pastry can taste good, I suppose.
Our server came back with an item that we didn't order, but was compliments of the house, the Canneloni. It was a sheet of handrolled pasta filled with seafood (lobster, crab and shrimp) and a creamy pink sauce which he spooned on tableside. This was quite delicious.
I had the lobster sandwcih which came with a side salad that had the cheese mixed in already. The cheese was feta and you all know how much I *Love* feta cheese. Pause. The sandwich on the other hand was quite tasty with big chunks of lobster. The toasted bun was quite buttery but I ended up just eating the filling.
Darlene got the pan roasted duck breast served on rice with a side of almond green beans. I think there was some sort of cherry sauce on it.
Our desserts were the tartufo and the French pistachio torte.
The pistachio torte chosen by Darlene had a shortbread base and was layered with cream cheese, pistachio filling and creme fraiche. It was topped with chopped pistachios. The light green color looked a bit artificial to me.
I selected the tartufo (which I noticed is no longer on their online menu; I'm not sure if this dessert is still offered). This was like the best chocolate bonbon to describe it in simple terms. In not so simple terms, this was a semifreddo (a type of frozen dessert made up of half ice cream and half whipped cream) with a zabaglione center, covered with hazelnut cream (gianduia in Italian), cocoa powder and raspberry sauce. We both shared bites of each others' desserts and agreed that this one was much much better.
OMG, just look at that and remember how it looks because for my second visit, it was totally DIFFERENT and not in a good way.
Our server gave us a tour of the restaurant before we left. We saw the "private" dining room (although it was enclosed in clear glass), their wine room, the bar and more rooms in the back.
"Je ne regrette rien"...the title of a famous song by French songbird Edith Piaf.
A few weeks later, we were back at the town center (the developers' name as opposed to 'mall' but I still call it the mall). TC had a study session with KD's daughter and a few other classmates. After they worked on their Biology project and did a run through in front of us, the parents, our family and KD's headed over to Savoie to try a few more items from the menu.
Once again, their bread with butter...
Plus calamari and what I believe were short rib sliders. The girls thought it was really fancy because the lemon was covered. They didn't realize it was to strain the seeds.
I couldn't find these on the online menu so perhaps they are now a nixed item. These were so good. I could've eaten all three.
We shared the white pizza (parmesan, grilled chicken, artichoke hearts and shaved parmigiano)...
Everyone enjoyed the appetizers so far. We weren't here for a full on dinner as Savoie is a bit on the pricy side.
Our desserts, two of which I had from my first visit (tartufo and French pistachio torte) and KD's favorite, the creme brulee.
Back to that tartufo. Hmmm, no cocoa powder. It was topped with some sort of light chocolate flakes. It was also noticeable lighter in color...since it wasn't hazelnut sauce. In fact, this tasted more like a very light chocolate dessert. As for the zabaglione filling? It seemed to be missing. It was like this was just a ball of the same thing. No surprise center.
I had raved about the dessert to KD based on my lone experience a few weeks prior. It was disappointing that this was an entirely different dessert. Don't get me wrong. It didn't taste bad at all; on the contrary, almost everyone loved it. But I was bummed it wasn't the same dessert.
As we left in the early evening, the firepits were turned on. The building in the background? Those are the AMC theatres in case you ever want to try coming here.
It was lovely spending some time with KD and her family. Like us, they only have one child. Our girls have known each other since birth (they are three weeks apart) and are happy to have had classes together last year and this year at their high school.
As before, our service was excellent. The folks working here are running a class act. Like Romesco, Savoie is probably one of the nicest and best "fancy" places one could eat at in the South Bay. It's definitely a "splurge" restaurant rather than one you could eat at daily, unless of course, you have major bank and have money to burn.
Darlene did a write up on the Tartufo:
"Order this - Savoie's decadent tartufo". October 2014
Who else went to Savoie?
Jinxi and Faye recently went for a sponsored dinner (everything they had looked amazing)...
Article:
"Feast - Savoie Eatery hits Otay Ranch" SD Reader, March 23, 2014
Savoie
2015 Birch Road, Suite 720
Chula Vista, CA 91915
(619) 591-5757
savoieeatery.com + fb page & reviews from yelp & tripadvisor
*A Tip: Although the address says "Birch Road", keep in mind that the whole mall has the Birch Road address but Savoie is on the OTHER side of the mall (the northern side), closest to the AMC movie theatres.
Here's a video by the company that installed the fake greenery. I include this only so you can see how beautiful it is inside:
I'm curious to return with some co-workers one day and perhaps do Happy Hour...
*On another note, the restaurant next door, Venga Venga closed recently. It used to be Frida's then was supposed to be El Vitral but that never happened. I never got the chance to try Venga Venga; my friends told me their tamarind martini was awesome. Sigh, well, we'll see what replaces it soon enough.
2 comments:
I LOVE your beautiful photos of this place. I visited towards the evening so your photos totally shed a different light on this restaurant. I absolutely love the interior and the outdoor patio of Savoie.
I can't eat snails either. It just evokes scary memories of me picking snails off plants in the garden when I was younger (it was a weekend chore parents demanded). I tried escargot some time ago though but still couldn't appreciate it (I don't care if it's drowned in garlic butter).
That's sad about the dessert not coming out the same the second visit.
Hi Faye - the first visit with Darlene was for lunch. The second visit with my friend KD was during the late afternoon. The lighting was so much different. This whole restaurant is beautiful, omg.
Yeah, that was the last time I ate snails. I had snails before at Que Huong (it was in a curry soup and the shells were small but conical/it was kind of gross sucking out the meat) and it's not high on my list of 'must eat' foods. We were adventurous that day, eating those snails in puff pastry, haha.
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