Sachet is a large place opened a couple months ago by the owners of Gemma (Frankie visited in June and July of 2016), where the food is inspired by Mediterranean cuisine. About a third of the space is for the bar and the seating around it. An open kitchen fills one end of the restaurant and a large clear cube containing wines is a focal point in the dining room.. With lots of hard surfaces the noise level is significant but tables are placed a nice distance apart to give you some ability to talk once the place fills. The menu starts with “meze” plates which are priced in groups of 3 or 5. They are small plates meant to be shared by the table. Pastas are in serving sizes like appetizers but can be turned into a main plate for an upcharge. Service is efficient and friendly and tables are turned throughout the evening.
We chose 3 of the Meze plates to share. While waiting for them to arrive we were brought some tasty slices of bread, which they did come by and offer to refill. The French lentils were on muhammara, a red pepper and walnut spread (it is misspelled on the menu). It was fairly tasty and the lentils were cooked nicely. An escalivada (smokey grilled vegetables) was made with zucchini, eggplant, peppers, scallions and romesco. It was surprisingly dull. I expected it to pack more of a flavor punch but it did not. The farro, mushrooms and cauliflower were cooked in a Greek style. They were pretty tasty and the farro was cooked nicely. It had enough seasoning to keep it interesting.
Our pasta, the orecchiette, was served with our appetizer, charred octopus. The orecchiette was mixed with turkey fennel sausage, rapini and chile. The pasta was cooked nicely and held the sauce well but somehow the dish didn’t sing to me like the description sounded. It was pretty good but it could have been killer with those combination of flavors. The grilled octopus did pack that flavor punch I was looking for. The octopus was cooked perfectly and had a good grilled taste. The lovely large Rancho Gordo beans, swiss chard, fennel and salmoriglio (southern Italian condiment with herbs, garlic and olive oil) all worked together to produce a good combination of flavor and texture. This one I’d get again.
Our main plate was designed to feed 2 people, a Catalon style stew with lamb belly, ribs, shoulder, potatoes, olives and saffron. It was a generous enough portion and was good to dip the bread into. There was nothing wrong with it but should I go again I’d try something different.
We looked at the dessert menu but nothing really spoke to us so we passed.
