Review: Don’t look for foie gras or frog legs at Sautee
July 29th, 2008, 11:41 am · Post a Comment · posted by Jess Harter
Nick Haddad maybe should have chosen a different name for Sautee. Whenever I mention his nearly year-old Chandler restaurant to someone, the reaction usually is the same.
“Sautee? Never been there. I don’t like French food.”
Well, forget about foie gras and frog legs. Sautee mostly serves good ol’ American favorites like steaks, chicken and burgers, albeit slightly fancy versions.
For the most part, Sautee is a casual, comfortable place. The industrial-like interior is energized by an infusion of primary colors, courtesy of lights, glass panels and modern artwork.
It also can be a fairly noisy place, especially if you’re seated next to the open exhibition kitchen, which is dramatically framed with a broken mosaic of red and orange tile.
Calamari ($10, pictured below) is a must-have appetizer. Six-inch-long strips of squid are soaked in buttermilk for hours and then flash-fried. Slightly crunchy on the outside yet tender on the inside, it’s one of the best preparations I’ve tasted.
A small mountain of the strips comes with two sauces: a mouth-scorching chipotle chili and a creamy key lime. Mix the two together for a perfect complement to the slightly sweet white meat.
Other appetizers are almost as impressive, including skewers of dice-sized sesame beef with a spicy tangerine sauce ($9) and a quesadilla with blackened chicken, roasted corn, onions, mushrooms and gouda cheese ($9).
Entrees, at least the ones I try, are just a half-step down. Filet mignon in zip sauce ($26) is perfectly acceptable, if not particularly noteworthy. A more flavorful choice is the filet medallions with a tasty brown gravy ($26, pictured below).
Sautee’s signature Urban Stuff Chicken — a chicken breast filled with spinach, mushrooms, onions and gouda — is surprisingly ho-hum, as is a pork tenderloin glazed with brown sugar and sherry ($16) and a plate of chicken tortellini ($14).
Even a chipotle chili burger with caramelized onions on brioche ($11) leaves this burger lover unimpressed.
Not that I dislike any of these entrees. I’d have any of them again — I just don’t know that I’d go out of my way to do so.
In fact, on my last two visits I find myself nibbling at entrees in order to save more room for Sautee’s decadent desserts, especially a brick-sized piece of bread pudding soaked in rich vanilla cream ($7).
Since opening on the northeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights roads last August — closing its original location at Dana Park in Mesa shortly thereafter — Sautee has provided a much-needed nightlife option for Ocotillo residents.
The bar area often is crowded, even when the dining room isn’t, and the patio, which features an eight-foot-long gas fireplace, is prime real estate in the fall, winter and spring.
That nightlife crowd might be enough to keep Sautee going until area residents realize what kind of restaurant it is.
Sautee Urban Bistro
Where: 4949 S. Alma School Road, Chandler (northeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights roads)
Open: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 .m. to midnight Friday and Saturday
Prices: Appetizers $5-$11, salads $6-$13, sandwiches/burgers $10-$11, entrees $14-$30, desserts $7
Info: (480) 895-5180 or sautee.com
• View a slideshow of Sautee
• Check out Sautee’s menu
