San Diego Metropolitan - Dining

Pasqual Vignal has spent the past 17 years with the Four Seasons company. With his wife, Catherine, a pastry chef, he came to San Diego as opening chef for Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad. There, the two did the usual hotel chef routine — long hours, huge numbers of guests, and working nearly every weekend brunch and holiday. As the chef business goes, there is no harder work than that of a hotel executive chef.

Early this year, the two purchased the freestanding restaurant formerly known as L’Affaire, located in a nondescript strip mall on the seemingly never-ending series of strip malls on El Camino Real in Encinitas. After a complete design overhaul and remodel of the space in June, they opened Savory, a little jewel box of a restaurant,

Pasqual is no longer locked up in the chef’s office crunching numbers for the hotel suits and controllers. He is behind the line swinging pots and pans and loving every minute of it.

Sage green walls are accented with dark woods, exposed brick, tastefully upholstered banquettes and simple lighting. Deep gold and orange plaid tablecloths add a Provencal touch making a beautiful backdrop for Pasqual’s straightforward yet elegant fare.

The menu is succinct and divided into two sections: “Taste” (starters) and “Taste More” (entrées). When tomatoes are in season, go for the “Vine Ripe Tomato and Red Onion Salad” ($6.25). Sweet, quartered, locally grown tomatoes are combined with red onions and housemade croutons. The trio is tossed in sweet, gravy-like balsamic vinaigrette. The croutons (made from a Bread and Cie baguette, served upon ordering with room temperature butter) are more chewy than crunchy as they are allowed to soak up the dressing before the salad is served.

One night I buckled under and ordered the “Traditional Gratinée Onion Soup” ($5.50). It’s an item that I’m sure the fancier food writers pooh-pooh — even Campbell’s sells a version of “French” onion soup. It’s just that every time I have dined at Savory I’ve seen it going out to diners by the dozens. It is served in petite brown crockery and, like all good soupe a l’oignon gratinèe, is finished with stale chunks of country bread and topped with creamy Gruyére. Let the gourmands say what they will — it was delicious.

Off the starters list I also recommend the roasted beet salad, the warm haricot vert salad and the housemade paté and duck rillette.

When it comes to the entrées, you really can’t go wrong. Prices range from $14 to $22 and Vignal offers a good balance of meat, fish and poultry. Speaking of poultry, the “Oven Roasted Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic” ($14) is casual French fare at its best. Fingerling potatoes soak up the deep brown juices and make a wonderful side dish. The entrée is presented in a sparkling copper pot with a clean white plate for you to dish up your own serving.

The “Savory Mac-n-Cheese with Country Ham” ($13.50) is served bubbling hot and is a creamy, comforting dish. The portions at Savory are petite (hence the petite prices), so I recommend ordering the Mac-n-Cheese as an accompaniment to your entrées. You won’t be sorry.

On two visits to Savory I ordered and enjoyed the “Lamb Osso Bucco” ($16.50), served off the bone and surrounded by caramelized, oven-roasted turnips and carrots. Have it with a nice robust red wine and let the hearty richness of the lamb scintillate your palate.

All desserts are housemade and are hard to pass up, especially priced at four to five dollars.

Although it’s hard to say if Pasqual and Catherine are working any less these days — I doubt it — they should surely find it gratifying that Savory offers some of the best country French dining in the city.