At Scottsdale's"beyond organic" restaurantSanté,ahostess greeted me underneath a6 foot tallchandelier of bright pink ostrichfeathers.
As she led methrough the posh dining room, past the affirmation crossword puzzle, the living moss wall and the life-sized photo of a modeltaken by the owner duringher earlier days as a fashion photographer, a Zoolander-esque voice in my head murmuredthe words,"health, it's so hotright now."
Inspired by a popular restaurant group Rustic Canyonin Santa Monica, co-owners Nico Doniel and Nick Neuman havecreated a chic spot that'll accommodate any dietary restriction, where the health and environmentally conscious can go to see and be seen.
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Meals begin with a dietary assessment
The first thing myserver inquiredabout weremy dietary restrictions. (None.) After Iordered a chai tea latte, she cleared a set of large, pristine wine glassesoff the tableand leftme to study the menu.
The word "organic" gracedevery dish, while the eclecticplates — like chorizo smatteredJapanese sweet potato with a lush coconut curry yogurtand grass fed bison steakin blackberry guajillomole —were labeled with equations likeveg +vegetarian +gf +nuts.
In a move that feltstraight out of the SouthernCalifornia playbook,Santéwillaccommodate any eater, with recipesthat appeal to raw foodies, keto enthusiasts, FODMAP followersand even dogs.
Even the house water was described as being "structured and re-mineralizedwith coral to create a molecular shape ... that mimics the water found in nature," whatever that means. The list ofmocktails madewith nonalcoholic spiritsis almost as big as the list of co*cktails. And justas pricey.
Through its foodand "biophilic environment" meant toevokethe natural world, Santé has set out to be Arizona's first green gourmet restaurant.What that actually means, depends on whom you're talking to. Here, it seems to come down tothe restaurant's plant forward menuand meat sourced from regenerative farms,a symbiotic style of agriculture that aims for lower impact production methods anda lower carbon footprint.
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"Why is there no organic, cool chic-y restaurants with all the things?'" Doniel, a certified healthcoach who splits her time between Phoenix and Los Angeles, remembered asking Neuman, whoowns theOld Town Scottsdale Italian restaurant EVO.
"We celebrate a lot of dietary needs for all kinds of people," she said."I noticed when Icame here from LA, that there’s really nowhere that people can come and celebrate food together."
The menu'scharm owes much to the vision of executive chefSaul Velazquez, a native ofNayarit, Mexico, who grew up in Phoenix,trained at the Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale and spent a decade with Fox Restaurant Concepts where he earned the distinction of the company's youngest executive chef at the age of21.
Velazquez and his chef de cuisine Eric Abaloz createdthe bulk of the menu under direction fromDoniel, who would go to themwithideas for dishes, which they then developed.
If there are two camps to plant-based cooking, Santé's approach is less about creating alternatives that mimicmeatyfoods and more about elevating the vegetables themselves with interesting techniques and sauces.
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Santéis a plant-lover's paradise
Plant-forward dishes shine the brightest atSanté.Fresh off the grill, two blackened quarters of cabbage were crisscrossed with a chunky kale chimichurri sauce and chive yogurt. This preparation tooka humble ingredient and treated it like a star.
Rainbowcarrots were presented over lentil hummus and envelopedin yogurt and black sesame seedsthen coated with a nuttypistachio dukkahspicemix. An arugula and fennel bulb salad was positively delightful with its lemonvinaigrette andcubes offresh, creamy, wine-caked goat's milk cheese,whichrounded out the bitteranise.
Even aplatter of raw vegetables became a celebration of bounty withintricately layered broccolini, purple pickled cauliflower, radishes and greenbulbs of Romanesco showing off psychedelicfractal patterns.
I loved it, but if you're going to graze,I suggestthe vegan cheese board.
A 'cheese' board was thesurprise hit
The former cheesemonger (and current cheese snob) in me bristleswhen I hear the words "vegan cheese," a food paradox of nut-based dairythat's always tastedjust a little bit off to me.That's whyI'm shockedto be sayingthat Santémakes one of the best cheese boardsI've had in town, and mostof it is vegan.
I honestly didn't even realize it when the massivewooden board arrivedwith all manner ofhousemade jams and spreads,fiercesnapsofpickled fennela burst of green grapes and golden raisins that complemented the aged Spanish cheeses.
I gravitated towardtwo soft cakes dusted with vegetable ash that I assumed to be the mushroom pate, smearing the garlicky spread all over Santé'shousemade sprouted organic sourdough bread.
It turned out to be a vegan cheese spread made from cashew milk. Maybe I'm getting a little bit hippy, but I think I liked it even more than the real stuff.
Skip the sustainable meats and stick to the plant-based and seafood entrees
Meat-centric dishes, like a grass-fed New York Strip steak topped with a prairieofsprouts, dominate the entree section. And, as a whole, themains weren't executed as well as thesharable veggie dishes.
The strip steak could have been more tenderand the bison was also a let down.
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A roaming bovine, bison meat islower in fat, but also higher in protein than a traditional beef steak, and that came through in the 8-ounce filet, which was juicy, but ended up tasting a little flat.
My biggest problem with the dishwas not the meat itself, but the melted Manchego cheeseover the top. Aged sheep's milk cheese is a tough one to melt successfully, and unfortunately, in this case the heat only funkified it, making it clashand overpower the flavor of the meat.
A buttermilk brined chicken from North Carolina-basedJoyce Farms was more successful, with perfectly crispskin and a lovely jusmade from kalamata olives and maraschino cherries.
The entreeI'd go back for was theKvarøySalmon. The Norwegian company states that rather than give their farmed fish antibiotics, they employ a new technology that useslasersto detect harmful sea lice and zap them away. At Santé, the superb piece of fish wasflakey to the fork with a flawless crust servedon a bed of sunchoke puree and supple fava beanswith dollops of a charred lemon sauce. Divine.
If you only order one thing at Santé, it should be this
One of thetwo vegetarian entrees ended up being the best plate on the entire menu — a raw chilled lasagnalayered withveganricotta made from cashew nuts, which came pretty close in flavor to the ambrosial dairy product that usually buttersup traditionallasagnas.
To amplify it, the chef drops in a sweet chutney of roasted tomatoes,a perfect foil to the freshness of the thick slabs ofzucchini that stand in for noodles.
I think it's the olive oil that I loved the most, though, draped over the julienned veggiesand pooled at the bottom of the vintage-style plate where it wasinfused with fresh chives.
"It tasteslike I'm eating a salad," said one of my dining partners when I ordered it for the second time. And perhaps that's why I loved it.
Like many of the dishes here, the lasagna was substantial enough to fill me up, yet somehow managed to bedelicate. Much like vegan cheese board that blew my mind, it challenged my perceptions of whathealthfood can be.
Santé
Where:15507 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.
Hours:8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdaythrough Thursdayand Sunday;8 a.m. to 11p.m.Friday and Saturday.
Price: Starters $17 to $42; salads $14 to $21; vegetables $14 to $18; mains $21 to $60.
Sound: During the day the restaurant is rather quiet, but on evenings and weekends the mood gets livelier and louder. Conversationsreverberate through the high ceilings, which can make it harder to hear.
Vegetarian/vegan options: Vegetarian and vegan options dominate the menuand almost everything is customizable. It's aplant-based paradise.
Recommended dishes: The tour guidecheese board ($24), fennel arugula salad ($16),Kvarøy Norwegian Salmon ($34) and the charred cabbage ($14).
Details:480-687-3189,lovesante.com.
Stars: 2.5(out of 5)
Should you go?
5— Drop everything
4— Yes, and soon
3— When you get a chance
2— Maybe, if it’s close
1— You can do better
0— Not worth your time
Reach reporter Andi Berlinatamberlin@azcentral.com. Follow her on Facebook @andiberlin, Instagram @andiberlin or Twitter @andiberlin.
