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The Carolina Gold Rice Bowl with slow-poached egg, pickled oyster mushrooms , house-made gochujang and toasted benne | Photo by Sarah Walor
The Carolina Gold Rice Bowl with slow-poached egg, pickled oyster mushrooms , house-made gochujang and toasted benne | Photo by Sarah Walor
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“I went to college” cocktail | Photo by Sarah Walor
“I went to college” cocktail | Photo by Sarah Walor
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Chef Adam Hall | Photo by Sarah Walor
Chef Adam Hall | Photo by Sarah Walor
I don’t know where to rest my eyes: on the two women at the bar who look like French Vogue cover models, making out between bites of their dessert? On their cocoa hazelnut candy bar à la mode, ready for its own glossy magazine spread? Or on the plaid-bedecked bartenders, beards bouncing in time with their sweating Boston shakers? I feel like I’m in the movie Cocktail remade in “Portlandia,” in a bar with 29 types of bitters, and dinner and drink menus secured inside a 1960s travel almanac.
Latin flavors like tamarind and mole sauce mix it up with heirloom grains, slow-farmed meats and stewed collards from the American South. Behind me, the restaurant’s host adjusts his knit cap while checking the seating chart from a handheld tablet.
Remember that group you weren’t a part of? The skateboarders? The punks? At first glance, this Jackson Ward restaurant may remind you of groups of that ilk — a clique of artsy, Gen Y gourmands setting new rules for fine dining. But the 40-plus set is welcome, too. The gentle, knowledgeable service provided by Saison’s well-trained professionals says that here, the kids are alright.
Chef Adam Hall has created a following for his chicken. He put cayenne-laced, Nashville-style hot chicken on Richmond’s culinary map, serving it with the prerequisite cooling pickles and a side of starchy, tongue-taming mac ’n’ cheese. Go get you some. On Sunday nights, the draw is gospel bird. You’ll see VCU students, families with children and bow-tied, graying real estate agents eating it and spooning silky collards family-style in the tiny, 10-table dining room. Make a reservation to secure your triple-dredged, paprika-scented drumstick served with a high hat of cornbread.
At the adjacent Saison Market, crumbly biscuits — split and filled with fried chicken and chili butter — are one of Richmond’s best food finds, available day or night. The chicken biscuit with Lamplighter coffee lives up to even Alton Brown’s hype; I’m so glad I don’t live any closer to this place, because that combo is addictive.
But what brings me back to Saison’s dinner-only table isn’t the chicken; it’s the seafood. I adore the seared Spanish mackerel floating in bacon broth with wilted pak choi. This dish is dynamite: hearty, soupy grits; meaty, bacon-kissed fish; and wilting-yet-still-crisp greens. Turf main courses can be photo finishes of flavor. Which is better — the decadent duck confit with mashed sweet potato, or the crowd-pleasing New York Strip cozied up to beefy shiitakes? I call it a toss-up. Another dinner show pony is the juicy Saison burger with bone marrow mayonnaise, available both at Saison and the restaurant’s market next door.
The short dinner menu doesn’t cater to vegetarians, but it does rotate interesting gluten-free and vegan options. Check out the crisp-bottomed rice topped with lacy mushrooms, pickled carrots and sweet snow pea strips rounded up in a General Tso-like tingle of heat.
One shareable starter, shelled Virginia peanuts flecked with roasted garlic, should sit next to all of the rummy, tiki-inspired bar drinks. If whiskey is your thing, the “I went to college” cocktail refreshes an American standard — the old fashioned — with apple brandy and cinnamon honey. But another small plate of smoked chicken wings doesn’t come through for me. The layers of deliciousness in the thick, tarry sauce overwhelm the chicken skin, which grows flabby under its weight. If the wings came out crackling instead of limp and schmaltzy, this dish would work. Another almost-perfect dish is the pungently dressed Brussels sprouts salad, where tangy apples and salty lardons are dampened by too much mustard and watery sprouts. Spin them a couple more times so that the veggies don’t leech water when you bite them, and you’ll have a fan.
Personally, I prefer drinking over eating at Saison; the cultish beers, studied cocktails and unusual wines always ring my bell. The chef offers well-seasoned, creative dishes, but the flavor combinations don’t work for me as often as they should. The meeting of South American spice and Virginia product is imaginative and considered — it just doesn’t consistently speak to my palate. This isn’t a ding, but a personal preference. Saison’s menu is original, and the food served is of high quality. Eating here may not always tickle my fancy, but it may yours. Without hesitation, I recommend you try it.
Saison
23 W. Marshall St.
269-3689
Hours: Sunday to Thursday: 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 5 to 11 p.m.
Prices: $4 to $28