Sent Sovi, Saratoga, CA

"Excellent French fusion for a romantic evening."

Name: Sent Sovi
Type: Restaurant, High End Quaint (California French Fusion)
Good for: Special Occasions/Romantic
Location: 14583 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA [Google it!]
PPP: $50-75
Overall vibe: Cute fancy special occasion bistro
Anything bogus: Tiny restroom

The Location

Saratoga Village was charming if not a little too quiet for a Sunday evening. There were white Christmas lights wrapped around trees planted at regular intervals down Big Basin Way. We figured there would be more places open or at least more people walking about. I spotted a place called Masu Japanese Bistro along the way that I'd like to try sometime. The whole area was lovely--a small winery mountain town mixed with obvious touches of affluence. The kind of place that would be nice to take a relaxing stroll after dinner. That was until we stepped out of the car. Yikes! It was freezing. We followed the directions from the restaurant about parking on 4th Street but realized we could've very easily parked on the street and didn't have to trudge in the icy darkness for a block and a half.

The Atmosphere

On the outside, Sent Sovi is an unassuming place. The buildings more or less blend together, and one could expect to find anything inside this address, from a pet store to a hairdresser's. As we got a peek through the large dining windows, we noticed that it was warm and totally opposite its exterior, rather like a geode. Once inside, we were surprised to see only one other couple eating dinner in their moderately-sized dining area. When we were there, I noticed the lovely paintings by Karen Honaker. I particularly liked the work entitled Pinnacle Picnic, which was framed above our table. Their tableware was unique and elegant, and their menus complimented the decor nicely.

The Food

We had the house champagne, which was cold and crisp. We started off with a dabble of creamy goat cheese on a lettuce leaf with a touch of citrus and chives. It was tart, of course, and went well with the champagne. Then we each had a bowl of roasted parsnip soup with arbequina oil and roasted almonds. The soup was thick and rich, and was absolutely wonderful! My entree was the chef's special of Huachinango (a type of red snapper that's in season in the Gulf of Mexico at the moment) with Coke Farms braised greens and crispy garlic chips in a fennel celery broth. It was delectible! My girlfriend had the Port Salut Yukon hanger steak which she asked to be cooked medium as opposed to medium-rare as is custom; and it still turned out amazingly tender and flavorful. For dessert we split the warm flourless chocolate cake (which had more of a brownie taste and consistency) with vanilla creme Anglaise and super vanilla gelato, along with Happy Anniversary written in hardened chocolate syrup on our plate.

The Service

Our waiter, Alex, was a friendly fellow and came by often enough. Upon entering, he took our coats and proceeded to take us to our table, where we found that he would be serving us throughout our evening. He seemed to be new, but did a good job, considering. One thing that we thought was a bit peculiar was that he would place square plates on top of circular table plates. This caused my girlfriend some mild frustration as the square plate would shift from one side to the other at the contact points, making a soft clanging sound each time. Eventually she resorted to holding the plate on one side to keep them quiet.

Anything Bogus?

One thing I have to point out, not necessarily as a negative, was their restroom rivaled an airline lavatory. Perhaps even smaller. It was so small that I couldn't sit straight on the toilet--I had to turn my knees to the left like I was riding side-saddle in some 1930s romance epic. It was such an oddity that I had to send my girlfriend back there to see for herself. She came back with raised eyebrows and a smirk and a nod. Again, this isn't a knock on the restaurant at all; we thought it was cute.

Summary

I would highly suggest coming here for a special occasion but if you don't want to break the bank, skip out on the wine and dessert and you could easily get out of here for under $100 for two people. As it stands, we spent about $175 for two people with everything and were highly satisfied.

Interesting Factoids

• Saratoga, CA has a population of about 30,000 and is considered a bedroom community
• Bedroom communities and suburban towns seem to be interchangable terms, though bedroom communities seem to be further located from major metropolitan areas and have fewer centralized employment opportunities
• A Canadian documentary was made in 2004 about the suburbs being in jeopardy as a result of the disappearance of cheap energy called "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream" it is available for viewing on YouTube.com