Savor The Culinary Institute of America — Restaurant in San Antonio

In all our travels and experiencing fine dining , we have never had an experience that would match our amazing evening at Savor. The restaurant was a smaller space than we had anticipated, and we were seated at the table closest to the kitchen. Normally I would not have accepted such a seating but having a premonition ( having read about the culinary school and the training process) I accepted. As part of the restaurant experience we had the best seats in the house. We could not be more grateful in that we got to engage rather regularly throughout the evening with Chef Will, and Sommelier Fabian. Chef Will has a quiet and yet firm approach that I could see the students embraced. His organizational and leadership teaching skills are seen throughout the back kitchen process and plating of food. He was calm and engaged in the stress of teaching students in getting the food out, and yet was seen smiling through out the evening. Sommelier Fabian is outstanding in his knowledge of wines his palet for pairing foods , and his friendly personality making talking about wines a delight. His creation of this seasons menu of a fusion of Italian and Asian flavors works!! I highly recommend the premium wine paring. We were particularly interested in the pairing of the Trivento White Malbec. Our waiter, Jose was appropriately engaging in conversation, knowledgeable about food selections and wine paring, and held pleasant and endearing life stories. In particular with all three of us in medicine and the fact Jose has switched his career from nursing to culinary arts/services, we had wonderful and insightful conversations about the challenges one faces in both medicine and in the restaurant industry. We could hear and feel the passion Jose has for his training and career in the culinary arts. All the food and wine pairing for the Four Course meal were spectacular. Meal sizes are appropriate for fine dining; thus, I’d suggest going with the four course so as to experience the full gamut of flavor. Highlights for us were; The marinated octopus ( increadibly moist meat), carpaccio ( fusion flavor outstanding), black risotto ( asthetic and flavor unmatched), ribeye , lamb, and hamachi ( all WOW), and the purin and cheesecake ( wonderful ending). We are already planning a...

The waiters meant well and they actively wanted to make your experience enjoyable. They are also cooking students…and you could tell that they liked their program. Not extremely talented as waiters…but an “A” for effort.

The food…I’m not sure how to comprehend what happened with the actual meal. It was subpar and a bit strange compared to my expectations…which were high even though I knew there might be some mistakes along the way because the chefs are learning.

What we were served at our table of 6 ($400+, 4 course meal-biscuits not included): for the table, biscuits and honey butter which lacked salt and came in an order of 5 ( for a table of 6). Poor start…but we were excited anyway.

Next came the first course: cold avocado soup or salad. Salads were good. Avocado soup had a creamy texture but had an overpowering acid flavor- others at the table said it would be ok as a dipping sauce- no one felt it was a good soup. To me it seemed like the topping poured over flautas/taquitos. Overall a miss…not sure if it was executed correctly and just not good, or if the acid was in error.

Next we had oysters/shrimp/some sort of toast thing. All were pretty good. My oysters were not OMG, but they were yay better than the soup. No complaints but no raves.

Next came the main course; my steak was fine…maybe Chili’s quality…they didn’t ask how I wanted it cooked…and the menu just said “steak and potatoes” or something like that…no mention of the cut…just strange. The Mac and Cheese was a hit, but the portion was small for some reason. The risotto was an exciting choice because of our vision of Hells Kitchen…but the rice was over cooked and it was watery…flavor was ok.

Dessert was “ok”. The chocolate mousse was very large (double the expected size)…tasted fine but was compared to Golden Corral.

This is an unkind review. I really want to support these chefs as they go through their education. But damn…the price of the meal combined the the poorly constructed menu and the lack of execution makes this place an utter disaster. A for effort, D for execution, and D- for value. If these were not students I’d say they would be out of business in a month. But they’ll continue to get novelty clients…but the food might be better at Chili’s even though you’re paying...

We had a fantastic dinning experience at Savor on our recent trip to San Antonio in June. This place is about 100 ft from Hotel Emma, where we stayed and highly recommend too.

For dinner, we made a reservation about a week ago and arrived on time. Our table was surprisingly not ready; However, the Maître d’Hotel Instructor (Fabien Jacob) and the young lady assisting (sorry, we missed your name) quickly fixed that while we enjoyed our fantastic guava rum-based cocktails at the bar made by the talented bar tender - Jordi.

Within 10 mins, the three of us were seated at the unofficial “Chef’s table.” This gesture, along with the complimentary cocktails, was highly appreciated and helped us ease into our highly anticipated dinning experience.

For dinner, my guests and I opted for the three ($39/person) and four (+$7) courses, respectively. All of us agreed to pair it with Premium wine pairing though. Note: the Premium pairing is absolutely worth the extra $7/person at $45!

Talking about the main attraction, each course and wine pairing was a well orchestrated symphony by Chef Vincent, Fabien Jacob and a team of super attentive servers, including Tiana, James and a few others who were very courteous. Their service was spot on and clearly elevated the dining experience by observing our needs and pace meticulously. Bravo team!!!

Regarding the food and wine, it was akin to flavor explosion on our pallets also hitting our sight, smell and touch sensors. A beautiful and magical experience overall that can’t be fully explained or visualized but can only be experienced in person. Go and experience for yourself!!!

Finally, Chef Vincent, Fabien Jacob, Kamryn Krause, Tiana, James, Jordi and all other Savor team members that contributed to our 5 star dining experience - Namaste! We will...