Restaurant Saisons has about 8 tables in the main dining room, 2 seats in front of the kitchen window and a party room upstairs. In the dining room there is a large window to the kitchen and a good-sized bar which is just for service not seating. The front room or entry has some seats for waiting and a reception station along with the window to the street. Modern music plays in the background but a number of sound dampening panels on the ceiling keep the noise level down. The room has a modern look reinforced with the small tables of polished light wood and the concrete floor. The menu offered 2 surprise tasting options and a small a la carte menu. We chose the smaller 5 course menu. For a one star Michelin restaurant the meal’s pacing was not even, with a slow down after the first two courses, like the kitchen wanted the whole room to catch up and be on the same course. Service was friendly and helpful.
A set of amuse bouche started the meal. Gougeres were topped with a thin slice of ham. Their nice crisp exterior had enough cheese flavor to balance the ham. They were nice. A beet ball was cool and in a nice crust. They were tart but good. A cheese chunk had been coated and fried. They were to be dipped in oil in the well of the log. They were tender and creamy. Good.
The first course was green asparagus in an asparagus velouté. It was cool and something in it was crunchy, like a seed but not round. The asparagus in the bowl had been lightly blanched or it was exceptionally fresh and raw. It was tender with good flavor. The dish was light and lovely.
Bread service was a selection of cut pieces including foccacia, crisps and a wheat bread. The interesting wood bread plate had its own well to hold your olive oil. The breads were all tasty and fresh.
The second course was a brill tartar with creamed apple, radish, kumquat and lemon. The meat was well seasoned and the vegetables were dressed with oil. The applesauce worked well with the tartar and the kumquat was really tart but good. The different colors of radish were crisp with none of the heat that sometimes comes with raw radish. It was good.
Sardinian pasta was topped with lemon rind. A fregola pasta risotto was a fun bowl of al dente pasta balls with a number of different mushrooms and carrots. It was served nicely runny and was very tasty.
The last savory course was monkfish topped with shallot, orange and crabmeat in a fish “bouillabaisse” sauce. The fish was nicely cooked and mild in flavor and thus didn’t overpower the mild sweet crab shreds. The broth did taste like a bouillabaisse and made an interesting illusion. They also brought a Noilly sauce that was buttery and creamy with breadcrumbs and olive oil. It was good with the dish but also with the breads.
Dessert was a chocolate ganache, chocolate baba au rhum and white chocolate ganache with nuts. A syrup of whisky, coffee and vanilla sat underneath all. The crispy bit of sugar and nuts was quite good and the babas properly soaked up all the liquid. It was a larger grouping of things than I normally would like but they all went together well. It was good.
Italian biscuits were the last treats. Flakey with sugar on top, the blond buttery one was the better of the two. The other was a chocolate chip cake that was more oily and spongy. Not too sweet with a weird texture.
