Savant Fine Dining

"Tampa Bay’s Busiest Microwave!?"

What should we expect from a $200 meal for 2 (before tax & tip)?
Spectacular food? Unique presentation? Ambiance? Unsurpassed service? We often spend that money, but usually get at least to eat.
It was a weekend night at 8 pm with only a table of two nestled in one corner of the restaurant, clearly our first indication that something was terribly wrong. Always ready for an adventure we dismissed the red flag warning and eagerly followed the hostess/server to our seats. Earlier that day we looked over the tasting menu online (which by the way was not the menu that was presented to us at the restaurant) and loved what we saw. And..according to the website this Chef has been named “2008 Best Chef in Tampa” and his restaurant is acclaimed as “Tampa's Best Fine Dining Restaurant (2009)” so how could we go wrong?
Once at our table we had a clear view of the open style kitchen and of the Chef we had read so much about. Strangely enough he seemed to be wearing ear-phones and fumbling (between courses) with his ipod or phone. Is he is taking phone reservations? Ok, so maybe he’s multitasking. In this economy we all must wear several hats, but we can’t help but wonder if maybe the distraction contributed to what was to follow.
We chose the 6 course Chef’s tasting menu and ordered a bottle of sparkling water and a bottle of wine. Now for our meal: Our bread was ordinary and spongy. Much to our horror we actually witnessed dishes being pulled out of the microwave and turned up-side down on plates. Within seconds we were served our appetizers. Now, this restaurant only offers 2 tasting menus and both begin with a crab cake, so clearly the chef knows the customer is going to have one either way. The crab cakes were tasteless and extremely dry. A thick, hard leather-like skin encased the crab cakes making them difficult to cut into and only the center edible. The skin-like texture was a clear indication that the crab cakes had been reheated.
Disappointed but still hopeful we awaited the arrival of our soup trio. Our lobster bisque was so salty it could not be eaten. The chestnut soup was more palatable, but extremely thick resembling the texture of grainy mustard. The beef consomme was tasty, but since it was the only edible item of the 3 there was simply not enough of it to satisfy our hunger.
Our salads were pre-made before the soup was served. Thanks to the open kitchen concept, we were able to see them sitting on the kitchen counter as the Chef poured the soups. The Chef had left the kitchen and did not return until after we were served our salads. We received a heap of over dressed, boring, soggy lettuce severely lacking in presentation.
Our forth course, Meyer Lemon Sorbet, was sadly the best part or should we say the only edible part (besides the beef consomme) of our meal thus far.
One of our main courses “called” Braised Duck reminded us of a hockey puck in shape and texture that was filled with an unbelievable combination of dry duck and shrapnel of duck bones. The puck was surrounded by a sludge of over cooked beans, something that one would expect to be served at any high security prison. The dish was accompanied by Bok Choy. I love Bok Choy! Yippee, finally something I can eat? Alas, no. It was so overcooked that the main part was as soft as mush. Starving at this point I gave it a whirl. It also tasted like mush. How does mush taste? Try Savant’s Bok Choy to find out for yourself.
My wife’s entree was “called” Beef Wellington. The pastry surrounding the beef was more like a pancake. The meat inside the pancake was tough and difficult to cut. The beans mentioned above also found their way into her dish as well and arrived ice cold. One bite of each entree was all that we could stomach so we just decided to opt out of the sixth course, dessert. Just like one would opt out of an annoying email news-letter that at one time you thought you wanted, but then realized that you just don’t care anymore. No matter how interesting future newsletters might be, you just can’t bring yourself to read anymore because the previous ones were so boring.
On the bright side our server was superb. She was pleasant, knowledgeable and professional. She often noticed how little was eaten during each course and naturally expressed concern. Since the disappointing entree was the straw that broke the camel’s back my wife felt compelled to let the server know that we were “disappointed with the meal as a whole” and that “the meal was not what we had expected”. The server apologized and against our wishes, insisted that we allow her to “see what she could do”. After speaking with the Chef/Owner, the server returned to our table with the full check and wished us a good evening.
The boldly written credo above the open kitchen reads: “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece”. Clearly one of them had taken the night off. So Chef, knowing about all of your accolades it is obvious that you possess the skill. Skill never leaves someone so it can only be that the love is gone. If that’s the case its time to close the door or at least pass the keys to someone that still has a love for cooking.