Cafe Savour

January7

Café Savour at 956 St. Mary’s Rd. is pretty much what I imagine our little restaurant would look like, if D and I ever stopped talking about it and actually did it. From the hand-painted tables, toss cushions, twinkle-lights and turquoise wine glasses to the photos adorning the walls from the places they have traveled together, this place reflects our personal taste and eclectic style.

We could never duplicate the skill level coming out of the kitchen though. Chef Louise Briskie de Beer’s menu is imaginative and her creations, oh so delectable. Her partner Faiz de Beer personally takes care of every table himself and his service is attentive, warm and comfortable. They are the only staff in the restaurant so they only open the limited hours of Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. We imagined them sharing a bottle of wine when the evening was through as they were tackling all of the dirty dishes.

Their prix fixe menu, offers three courses for $35 or five for $45. If you are concerned about quantity but want to sample as much as possible, you could follow our lead and order one three course and another five course and share it ll. As a result, we started with an amuse bouche of house baked breads and dukkah which is a Middle Eastern spice and nut mixture to enhance the tasty breads. Even though the recipe is a middle-eastern one, they discovered it while travelling in Australia.

Next up were bowls of piping hot soup, in fact the hottest food I have ever had while dining, Many soups are “held” for the kitchen’s convenience but Louise must heat small portions up when she receives an order. I could not decide between my savoury bowl of sausage, mushroom and wild rice and my husband’s of cauliflower, potato and curry. Bother were perfectly balanced and appealing in their own distinct ways.

We shared a South African appetizer trio of “Dhaltjie”-spinach and chick pea fritter, “Frikkadel”-masala flavoured tuna patty and Cape Malay spiced samosa. All were enjoyable and we concluded that we like the fritter the very best. We also shared a deconstructed and reconstructed Greek salad where the wheels of tomato and cucumber were presented in a tower accompanied by rings of purple onion, green peppers, olives and feta.

My husband opted for a slow roasted lamb shank smothered in au jus and sweet onions, while I tucked into an unusual eggplant parmigiana that we guessed had been made to order rather than the typical casserole style.

But wait; there was still dessert to come: a chewy cherry crisp and a decadent chocolate apricot pate. You might suggest that we would have been exhausted by eating such a quantity but the owners provide the perfect sized tastes of the starters and you are more than satiated with the portion of the entrée. Every taste from start to finish was divine, made even more so by their reasonably priced wines by the glass.