Reopening tonight is ~SAISON~, the newly upgraded and remodeled fine dining restaurant in the back of Stable Café. What’s exciting is the temporary “one night a week” restaurant that started in July of 2009 grew to three nights, and will now be serving dinner five nights a week (Tue-Sat). Chef Joshua Skenes is now cooking on his dream stove: a Molteni, the only one in the city. There are eight seats in the kitchen, including a four-seat chef’s counter ($200 per person), or the two-seat chef’s table, offering a landmark dining experience of up to 20 courses (the menu can be customized for meals clocking in at $200 to $500 per person—yes, you read that right). Meanwhile, the main dining room has new Danish modern dining chairs and semi-circle banquettes, offering a view of the kitchen and the patio. An eight-course meal is $98, paired with regional French wines chosen by sommelier Mark Bright for an additional $75-90. And since there’s only one seating per night, you can plan on lingering with your group without a server dropping a check on you as soon as you finish your last bite of dessert.
There is also a new hearth on the brick outdoor terrace for whole-animal cooking (both meat and fish), where the kitchen will additionally be cooking and roasting items in the embers and ashes. You will be able to swing by and just drop in for a meal in one of the 15 or so seats on the Terrace at Saison. This section will break from the prix-fixe menu format, offering a more casual experience and an à la carte menu. Look for this option in a couple weeks.
The cuisine is centered around top-notch ingredients, from herbs procured from a local forager to poussin from Four Story Hills. Saison is cultivating its own biodynamic garden of edibles just a few miles from the restaurant as well. Check out this photo album from Grub Street for a sneak peek of the space (and kitchen).
Chef’s table. Photo by Mark Leet.
