The Other Side Of The Bridge: Saul

I'll admit it - I'm a Manhattan snob. Any invitation I received to go out to an outer borough was usually followed by a response that went - "I don't go to (insert your favourite outer borough here)!" Outside of going to the airport, there just never seemed to be a good enough reason to leave the confines of the "main" island. That particular view of mine, however, has been changing and especially when it comes to Brooklyn. No disrespect to Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island, but some recent experiences in Williamsburg (an amazing little speak easy and a pub crawl among them) have made me much more receptive to the idea that some trips out to Brooklyn might be worth it after all. Recently, JW threw out the idea of trying out some of the restaurants there and after some debate, we decided on Saul for one of our regular group dinners.

Its never easy to get to Brooklyn and this was further confirmed when I was the first to arrive, even though I was 15 minutes late as it is. Contrary to popular belief, cabs do go to Brooklyn, but even a slight backup on the FDR or the Brooklyn Bridge can put you back by quite a few minutes. As I waited, I noticed a Michelin star very proudly on display behind the bar that, having not been aware of the fact prior to my arrival, made me look forward to the meal even more. JW, AO, EA, ST and AN finally made it over the bridge and we sat down to our table in the middle of the restaurant.

Saul would be very easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. Its not that it is hard to find - the sign above the door and the big, wavy S etched into the glass make it stand out clearly enough. However, it doesn't seem like a restaurant that would entice someone to walk in off the street. Once you are in, the room is small but very cozy. Being there as we were on a Sunday, there weren't too many tables filled and so the restaurant probably felt much bigger than it would have on a crowded night. The tables are covered in crisp linens and the whole place feels very pristine, almost as if housekeeping had just come in and done up the room. It felt a little out of place in Brooklyn for me, but on the whole, the room makes for a pleasant, if slightly boring, dining experience.

And yet, we were there for the food. Saul had their regular tasting menu and a special seasonal menu available that night, but altogether, the menu choices were very disappointing for me. There were just two vegetarian appetizers (a watermelon and tomato salad with onions, mint and feta, and a chilled green gazpacho with tomato sorbet) listed and not a single main course. I wasn't too thrilled when the server then offered the only vegetarian entree option of roasted vegetables over pureed vegetables (very creative!), and thanked my lucky stars that the entree special that day happened to be a vegetarian, 3-cheese ravioli in parmesan broth over a bed of roasted corn and tomatoes.

I went with the green gazpacho and the ravioli, but in hindsight, I wish I had gotten a chance to try out the watermelon and tomato salad as well. I ate such a salad at my friend BL's birthday brunch the week after (also in Brooklyn!) and if it was anything as good as that one was, it would have made for a fantastic addition to the meal. Having said that, the gazpacho was probably the best part of my dinner. The dish itself was a revelation for me and I loved its presentation - a cold, red ball of tomato ice sitting in a bright green soup, surrounded by yellow tomatoes. The soup was already cold, but the sorbet added an amazing iciness and flavor to it that really made the dish pop. You could taste all the flavor of the green tomatoes and by the end, I was using my bread to wipe off every last drop of soup. All the better that I did, since the ravioli that came out next was completely uninspiring. The pasta was altogether too thick for ravioli, the broth didn't really add much flavor and the best part of the dish really was the salad of corn that the ravioli sat on. Add to the fact that everyone else on the table had to send back their mains to get re-heated (they came out cold), and it made for a very unenjoyable main course.

Dessert helped save the meal a little. There were many interesting choices (including a signature baked alaska) and I was torn between the blueberry almond tart and the valrhona chocolate cake. I went against JW's "stern" recommendation on the cake and picked the tart, but was lucky enough to try a bite of ST's cake order as well. Both desserts were very good, with the tart really feeling very fresh and coming across as a perfect summer dessert. It made for a very nice end to the meal and left a good taste in my mouth for the long train ride back to the mainland.

Overall, Saul left me quite disappointed - the lack of menu choices coupled with some of the misses on the food made me wonder if it was truly deserving of that star that stands in the room or more importantly, deserving of the long trip out to its borough. Brooklyn has a number of promising restaurants on its map and I have no doubt that I will make many more trips across that bridge - it just won't be back to Saul.

Saul is on 140 Smith Street, in the Boerum Hill neigbourhood of Brooklyn. Expensive. Veggie Accommodating. Ambivalent.
www.saulrestaurant.com








Photo Credit: Saul, New York Serious Eats