After hitting three local wineries in a row for three straight Fridays, I finally got back to the food with this next debut visit. On Saturday evening some of my family and I made the 70 mile Journey from Madison to Lake Geneva to go and check out the brand new, just opened (July 15th) Savoy Restaurant right on Lake Como where the views and sunsets come complementary with every meal or drink you get. Let me show you what else we got on our first visit and what you have to look forward to yourself this summer and beyond.
Let me show you around the place first to get a look and feel for the vibe this place has. Its a combination of sophisticated class with rustic nostalgia along with lakefront resort all rolled into one. And it works! It just feels good and looks good. Welcoming and casual but still formal and classy.
We had a 6pm RSVP for five people and on arrival Justin, the Kitchen Steward greeted me and my family at the door to welcome us in. In-between his kitchen duties he made the time to come out and welcome us from Madison to meet him and experience what Savoy is all about. I also got to meet his wife Pam who is a super kind and friendly woman. Jay the front of house manager is another standout we had tending to our needs all night, he is another staff member you have to meet so be sure to say hello if you run into him. Lacey, our server killed it! On point all night long making sure our water was always full, orders were spot on and timely, drinks and wine all on point and her professional demeanor was top notch. Her menu awareness was impressive as she was able to describe any item we had plated in detail without any peak of a menu at all. Now that’s being prepared. Ask to have Lacey as your server and your going to be in good hands all night. I’ll mention one more time….the views of the sunset over the lake on the patio is spectacular and worth making an RSVP for to get prime seating. The perfect place for a romantic date night!
The staff all seemed to be operating as a well tuned machine, all the parts doing their job in sync. I detected no hiccups all night long. For being open for less than one month, I often expect there to be some small slips here and there, not so here. At least none that I could see. For being a very busy night in which all seats on the patio (spaced out of course) were taken by the time our plates came out and more so yet by the time we left the venue, the inside was nearly full as well, this place has some demand for sure. They open at 5pm nightly and close at 10pm. They had a steady flow of guests that whole time from my perspective but even so, the meals and drinks just kept on flowing out of that kitchen without issue. Take a look at the current limited menu they have (due to COVID). It may be limited in its current selection range yes but I assure you it is not limited one bit in quality or flavor! I share with you here, links to the of current wine and drinks menu which is not on their website at present so i wanted to be sure and share that here. The ‘Old to New Fashioned’, Imagery Pinot Noir and French-Margarita were all winners with us.
On to the main course already yes?! Good because I cant wait to show you the goods either. Between myself and the four dining companions with me, we got to try just about everything on the menu except the avocado & grape fruit salad, the modern caesar salad and 2 of the 3 dessert items. Everything else we actually did get to try. I can tell you now, we would get it all again in a heart beat as well! Feast your eyes on the items below.
Some things you really aught to know about the menu and the foods/ingredients within it:
+Many items are sourced hyper-locally, meaning as close as they can find a provider/grower farmer to get it from when it is in season. Oftentimes within 5 miles or less.
+The culinary team headed by GM and Executive Chef Cristian Hernandez is pulled together from across the country with all staff members having formal training in various global cuisines. The team has been working together to build this menu since December to assure its uniqueness and quality over quantity focus.
+The flowers on all of the plates are 100% edible! Yes you can eat them and they taste really good too! They are grown right there on site in the garden in the back of the restaurant.
+Chef and the team pride themselves on using as much natural, organic, local ingredients, scratch made of their own one of a kind recipe items such as their trio bread basket, spicy cherry jam, Patz Farm honey, garden chimichurri sauce, pickled vegetables, and Beet honey Dijon. These often small details of a meal became the highlight of ours as they were all truly remarkable.
Be sure to check out their Facebook page as well. They are very responsive and happy to help answer any questions people may have. I strongly suggest RSVP’s for groups of 3 or more on weekends based on what I saw, the later it gets past 5pm the busier it got so keep this in mind as well.
Wow. You need to catch up with Kristy Kaminski