Sweet and Savouries is GREAT!

Don't know if anyone has posted about this place yet. I've been busy with the end of the school year, so I've missed reading. You guys are always so up on things, that I can't imagine someone hasn't already alerted everyone. Anyway, we've been about 5 times to Sweets & Savouries in an unlikely setting on Fullerton just east of Ashland, and each time is better than the last. The food is intense. Like a hunk of foie gras in maybe a blueberry creme fraiche. Or a simple(!) risotto with freshly shaved black truffle. Or a divine vichysoisse (sounds simple-but really scrumptious). I think I'm not describing these dishes as elaborately as they really are, nor do I have a digital camera, but everything tastes quite delicious. And (soon to change) they're still BYOB! The $50.00 tasting menu is an outrageous bargain for 7 courses. We love this place!

I was there, with a group of about 12 a few months ago. I had pretty high expectations because I've heard almost nothing bad about the place and several people whose opinions I trust, had raved about it.

Our experience was fairly uneven. Some courses were fantastic (amuse of mussels, appetizer of foie gras, asparagus risotto with lemon and truffle oil) and some were not so good (extremely tough lamb course, dry and fishy-tasting wahoo course). I thought that the desserts -- and they brought a lot of them out -- were exceptional and I usually am not attracted to desserts.

But, the one area I found truly lacking was the service, which was, I hate to say, pretty bad. We had 1 waiter for our table and he appeared to be severely challenged by our group, even though we all ordered the tasting menu. Courses were brought out unevenly, wine glasses were almost never changed, water glasses went unfilled and even though we brought specific wines to pair with each course (we had the menu in advance) we constantly had to ask for them because the server just couldn't figure it all out. Even having some of the wines chilled before we wanted them served was more challenging for us that it should have been.

Anyway, I really wanted to love the place and although it hit some really great high notes, the overall experience was still a little rough for me. My goal is return to S&S's with smaller group and give it another chance. For whatever reason, our group threw them off their game just a bit.

=R=