Sauvage — Restaurant in Alberta

I wanted to treat myself to a nice dinner after 2 days of eating conference food, and carefully chose Sauvage based on the reviews. I went on a Saturday night at 9:30pm, which is late, but the restaurant still had a number of tables occupied and closes at 11. I was told I could only order from the snack menu which was fair enough, but since it seemed to have a number of items on it, I agreed.

I couldn’t quite envision the cocktails as they had a number of unusual ingredients so I played it safe with a gin based one. The drink simply put tasted like cabbage water, and although it boasted to be made with “cabbage gin” it had a number of other ingredients, and I didn’t think that anyone would seriously create a drink with a cabbage forward flavour, but there it was. I would have sent it back but no one asked me how it was.

I ordered two things from the menu, the beet salad and the seafood cakes, but I was told they were out of the latter. The sever didn’t recommend anything instead even though I was struggling to make a choice, and when I asked about the scallops only volunteered that they were “quite small” so I went with the mushroom toast. 5 minutes later, at 9:50 I was told it was “last call” from the kitchen - it was hard to make a decision as to whether to order anything else as my food hadn’t arrived but I ordered the meatballs fearing everything was “quite small” (which turned our being correct). The salad was excellent and had a number of interesting and complementary ingredients and a base dressing that was creamy but did it overwhelm it. The mushroom toast was just ok, the bread was hard to cut and overall it was something I could have made myself. The meatballs were good, but were just meatballs, with the exception of a few cm strings of shallot, and since the restaurant didn’t offer anything else, even bread, it was hard to get through them even tough I was hungry. I also ordered one glass of wine, the Chablis, which along with the salad was the only notable thing I consumed.

At 10:05 I was told that the bar was also closing, was pretty much sums up my interaction with my server who didn’t really care about me being a patron there and quite frankly seemed annoyed by my presence. I asked if there were any dessert options after seeing others be served a cold dessert and truffles and was simply told no. They could have easily tried to make my evening special but my entire 38 minute dinner seemed like an inconvenience...

Please go visit and decide on your own. Read on if you want an honest review and some back and forth with the owner.

Looking at the review dates, I believe most of the ratings here are for Tapas, a restaurant we've visited over a dozen times in the past 5yrs, pre-COVID. Not the renamed (new ownership) Sauvage, which we've visited once since COVID.

Atmosphere and service: 5 stars. The servers were welcoming and friendly.

Wine: Honestly, we were shocked at the price. $23.50 for a 9oz glass of Borgo Scopeto Borgonero, found for $24 at the store. $20 for a 9oz glass of Peter Lehman cab sav, same year/bottle found for $20 retail. And this is coming from a Vancouver resident, where we are used to being overcharged. Cioppino's, and other top Canadian restaurants, charge less for better quality wines. I am well aware the Bow Valley is expensive, but yikes.

Food: 3 stars and overpriced for the quality. The truffle snow gnocchi was delicious, but lacking the truffle snow, not a hint of the flavour. Elk short rib was OK. The charcuterie was sad; a very small amount of plain cheeses and meats, the highlight was the few pieces of bread. The remainder of the meal was just a bit above average.

There are other Canmore restaurants that have equal, or better, quality food & wine for more realistic prices.

....

To the owner and all those who the owner feels the need to let me know is emailing them... This an honest review from an informed individual aware of the restaurant business, including the economics and the impact of COVID. Re: wine prices, I checked them before reviewing and found comparable wines in other Canmore (and Banff) restaurants to be more reasonably priced. As I said, decide on your own what the value is.

I'm also aware the living wage in Canmore is $37/HR vs. $20/HR in Vancouver, meaning those employees the owner mentions are very close to being paid a fair salary in Vancouver --- It was amazing to have the owner tell me they are paying staff the living WAGE of $37/HR, seriously, fantastic and a very rare thing to do in this industry. They must make a...

The atmosphere is cozy and equally sophisticated. The service was delightful, caring, and all in all top notch.

The food. How can I describe the fantasy-like journey that we encountered with our meal? It was magical. I felt like I was transported to a fantastical land where you'd find fairies, gnomes, dragons, and other mystical beings. Each bite burst with unique flavour and created a story in your mouth and your soul. Some stand outs were the pumpkin sipping soup with beet chips, the spruce bread with whipped butter, the venison tartar was full of natural flavors that blew me away.

Ok, let's be real, everything was a stand out. The boar belly was succulent and melted in my mouth and the bison with wild rice was insanely tender and rich I can still taste it.

The desserts were perfectly balanced in that they were not too sweet and, though by this point I was bursting, I still wanted, no, needed to consume everything on the plate.

Every time my partner and I come to Alberta we will be making a stop in Canmore essentially to eat here again. It was more than a meal, it was an adventure. It was a performance that explored what can be done when you put your whole heart and soul into your work, your passion. What beautiful experience especially knowing that everything was foraged locally and sustainably.

I cannot express my gratitude for this experience and I am already looking forward to our next visit!

Thank you Tracy, Marie, Pierre, Amber, and Rebecca! This was our 8 year anniversary celebration and we have never celebrated our anniversary before for various reasons and this was the perfect way to celebrate the last 8 years of a beautiful...