Savour — Restaurant in Tallahassee

‡‡‡ UPDATE ‡‡‡ Another date night at Savour and it was fantastic. The Service: Alex, Jess, Sam. The Vibe. The Drinks. The Food: Grits & Greens, Bronze Grouper Vera Cruz, Chocolate Bread Pudding. Added more photos...

‡‡‡ ORIGINAL POST ‡‡‡ This was our second time dining at Savour. In my best Howard Hewitt voice, the second time around was better than the first time. And the first time was fantastic. I have been in a reviewing mode as of late so I will continue...

The Location | It is on Park, next to the DoubleTree, and across from the Park Ave parks filled with huge oak trees and moss which is well lit to glow beautifully at night. Good vibes when you walk out of Savour in the evening. Street parking on Park is available metered until 18:00 (I think), and easily accessible.

The Space | It has that a new age old southern decor and feel. The seating and tables are a little tight but you will forget about it once the food arrives. Yum. The space appears to have three different ecos: the bar área, the quiet side, and the back. We were on the quiet side.

The Service | The front of the house was good and engaging. I do not recall the woman's name but she was lovely and communicative. We had a reservation and we were seated quickly. Sam waited our table and it is clear that he loves what he does. He was knowledgeable, helpful, candid, funny, engaging, and when I told him that I don't drink alcohol and wanted a Mocktail with Coconut, he said: I got you. He came back with a drink that was excellent and a challenge: 'if you can name the ingredients in the Mocktail, you dinner is on the house.' What? After a few questions to set the rules of engagement, we got six of 7. It was a fun challenge and I appreciated it because I am always searching for good NA dranks.

The Vibe | It was all about the Food, us (the Customer), and Sam (the conduit between the Food and the Customer).

The Food | Fantastic...for a second time.

We ordered two dranks, two appetizers, two entrées, and a dessert.

• Coconut Mocktail. It was very good. Once I learned what the ingredients were, I realized that I couldn't taste some of them. I will perfect this at home. Thanks to the bartender for sharing the recipe and for the challenge. • The Shazam. It was ok.

• Classic Caesar. Hard to make a bad one and the homemade croutons are a nice touch. • Tuna Tostones. It was one of the special that night. It should be a regular menu item. The plantain cup was a perfect vessel for that sushi item. We are still tasting that one.

• Thai Snapper. It was ok. I am not sure that we would order it again. The Asian flavors were different and dynamic. The snapper was a little dry and maybe it needed to be in the sauce with more sauce. I dunno. • Shrimp and Grits (No Sausage). Well done. So very well done. Better than any that I have had in a long time. What made it sooo good was the sauce, the veggies in the sauce, and the thick consistency of the grits which held together underneath that crazy good sauce. It was so good that I asked for a soup spoon.

• Lemon-Blueberry French Bread Pudding. Sheesh. Loved it. We should have ordered two.

The Price | $130 before tax & tip.

The Summary | Favorite Restaurant in Tallahassee. Chef Brian Knepper does it well and no one does it better in Tallahassee.

Chef Knepper, What can I do - work? pay? - for the recipes for the Shrimp and Grits and the Lemon-Blueberry French...

[edit 10 December 2023]

Still nearly perfect service of attentive but not overbearing except that initial attention after being seated, with a reservation, seemed long. Caesar salad was excellent, except for no anchovy flavor, as far as perfect amount of dressing and salt/acid/creaminess and with a good bit of garlic. Wedge salad with a "ranch" dressing, only in quotes cuz so much better than what I think of as ranch, was also great. Rosemary shrimp were a little over this time but still very tasty. Thai fish was great. The "bouillabaisse" broth had ok seasoning but had zero depth of flavor that a bouillabaisse should have; think thin watery broth and a little tomato with some saffron and salt. As a soup, it sucked, but the seafood was perfectly cooked. For a two person reservation, we got a half-table against a wall that worked surprisingly well but still felt a little like a kid's table although with surprisingly comfy seats. If I had only gotten the bouillabaisse, I'd give three stars for the watery broth, but everything else, including great service, keeps them at five.

[older]

Overall the food was great and service was that great mix of attentive but not overbearing. They were also awesome enough to comp a dessert for my wife because this was a birthday/mother's day dinner. (Starting with negatives below cuz so much was so good.) I completely understand running out of menu items, but we were not told that they were out before I, for maybe the first time ever, decided before my family on an entree, or when ordering desserts that there was only one left of the one we all wanted (and yes the server knew both times before taking our orders and so not like he went back and found out the last ones had been ordered out from under us). Mac n cheese is supposed to be pasta coated in a creamy cheesy mornay type sauce; theirs was overcooked unseasoned pasta on top of barely seasoned melted cheese with untoasted cracker crumbs on top with a bad aftertaste that I think was overuse of truffle oil and was a shocking contrast to the rest of the meal in how bad it was but they took that off the bill. Three beef dishes were cooked absolutely perfectly to order and were very good to excellent with their sauces, but the filet had zero inherent seasoning, which would have gotten them kicked off of MasterChef Junior, and so was just a little disappointing. Caesar salad was good but unremarkable, needed more lemon juice and a touch more dressing, I would have liked the side anchovies minced so that I could easily mix in to my liking. Also I would have liked to have seen a good mixed greens or arugula or something salad choice, as  Caesar and wedge salads as two out of the three choices seemed pretty outdated/boring since it's not 1970. Shrimp app was excellent, with meaty, well-seasoned shrimp, a sauce that was a perfect balance of salt and acidity with a little zip, some umami, and just a little bit of sweetness and grilled but not mouth-hurtingly hard ciabatta to mop up the extra sauce. Creme brulee and peanut butter chocolate pie were great. Whatever mocktail they came up with for my son based on a flavor profile description was genius and also very pretty. It may sound like I hated the place, but I'm being more critical because of the price point. Still five stars cuz so much...

Everything about this dining experience was perfection.

Let me start off by saying the first person you see when you walk into the restaurant is the owner. I found that so charming and personal! For a Thursday night at 8 they were pretty busy, but thankfully the owner found us a high top in the bar area. Victor and the other bartender were wonderful and took good care of us. The décor was so romantic and cozy, the chandeliers were just beautiful. Definitely a good first impression, and it only got better from there.

To start we got their burnt ends. I had read the menu wrong and thought they were cold, so I was a little put off by that, but thankfully Victor clarified that they were not and they came highly recommended by him. They came in a mini iron skillet with some ciabatta bread. My only complain is I wish it came with just a tiny bit more because the juices were too good to not soap up with the bread. The burnt ends were so flavorful and tender, and I am not usually a fan of mushrooms, but they just melted in your mouth.

For entrees we got the scallop entrée special and the sous vide flank steak. The scallops came on a bed of farro, and while it was delicious it was not as good as my flank steak. The scallop I did try melted in my mouth and the farro was cooked perfectly. At times farro can be a little too grainy and hard, but I really enjoyed how the farro was cooked and the brown butter sauce. When ordering my steak I was not asked a temperature so I was a little worried on how it would be prepared, but it was cooked to perfection. To order that any other way would have been sacrilegious. The steak was topped with cojita cheese and chimichurri, and it came with cream of corn and sweet potato fries. I would have loved it with some asparagus or some other green, but regardless it was delicious.

Lastly, for dessert we got the peanut butter whiskey crème brûlée with brûléed bananas. I am always apprehensive about ordering crème brûlée anywhere because it is my absolute favorite dessert, but this one exceed my expectations. The sugar was caramelized perfectly and the texture of the custard was spot on.

The attention to detail in this restaurant is impeccable, you can tell how much thought went into everything, down to the women's bathroom. The bathroom had wrinkle release spray, toothpicks, hairspray, etc. They did not leave anything unaccounted for. You get what you pay...