Eclectic menu takes taste buds on tour

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MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Above, Cafe Savour�s Faiz de Beer, left, with bourbon balls and Louise Briskie-de Beer with pineapple coconut tart; below, Nancy Zanella with coils of Hungarian sausage at European Meats.

Are prix-fixe dinners a trend? If so, they are sometimes a welcome trend, taking the arithmetic agony out of ordering more than one course.

They have turned up most recently at Cafe Savour, which used to be Lulu's with an à la carte menu, but now features a few multi-course, $35 menus, served from Thursday to Saturday only. A few brunch dishes, from $13 to $18, are also available on Saturday and Sunday.

As Lulu's it was an attractive wee place but now it is quite adorable, with a cosy decor, almost all of it -- the around-the-world artifacts apart -- created by co-owner/cook Louise Briskie-de Beer. The hand-painted tables with colourful floral and leaf designs are lovely, the pale green walls have a faint leaf pattern, and the little coloured lights that twinkle around the windows and the showcase of desserts add a festive touch.

Dinner is a series of courses, but it's quite a stretch to call the first one an amuse bouche. The term usually refers to a one or two-bite creation by the chef, and in this case is simply thin slices of bread with a dip of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. On the other hand, we are tempted to excuse the stretch, since the house-made bread is so good, and it takes willpower not to fill up on it. Second course is either soup or salad, and although I'm sure the salads -- Greek, garden or caesar -- are good, the weather demanded soup, and both the vegetarian leek and potato and the yellow split pea with ham were top-notch.

You needn't worry about filling up on your appetizer, since portions are minuscule, and although the main courses are more generous, they too are on the smallish side -- you won't leave feeling uncomfortably stuffed.

The short, eclectic menu offers a choice of five appetizers and five entrees, most of them influenced either by the owners' recent travels, or by their personal backgrounds.

The South African combo starter, for instance, reflects the background of co-owner Faiz de Beer -- a trio, the best of which was a pea flour fritter with Indian spices; a pea-stuffed samosa was also good, but the third was a rather bland, masala-seasoned tuna patty. Other starters -- a sausage- and black bean-filled empañada, two tiny little quiches, and a selection of wee pancakes, the most notable among them the chive and cornmeal pancake -- were all tasty.

The South African denningvleis, a tender lamb shank in a sauce sparked by tamarind and cranberries, was tops among the main courses, but I also liked the enchiladas topped by shredded bison (chicken is an alternative), refried beans and avocado, and zested up by a fresh salsa. An individual pot pie of beef was savoury and rich, its only flaw a whole-wheat crust that lacked crispness.

On the other hand, the jambalaya was a total miss, a cacophony of ingredients that lacked cohesion, based mainly on pickerel cheeks and chicken, and overwhelmed by the intrusive flavour of double-smoked kielbasa. Nor was a dry cornmeal pancake a suitable complement to the dish.

But come dessert time you'll be glad the preceding courses left enough room to appreciate them. All were luscious: a moist pineapple-coconut tart; a dense cranberry pound cake; a wonderfully rich chocolate pâté streaked with brandied apricots; and chewy bourbon balls.

The wine list is small but with a few decent choices. Service is heart-warmingly friendly and the entire experience is fun.

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By this time next week, most of you will have had your fill of turkey leftovers, so how about corned beef? No, not that bland, dry round of beef prepared by a few commercial packing houses, but the glorious, old-fashioned kind that is full of the juices and flavours that come from a full-fat brisket. Or slices of a true old-fashioned ham, one that doesn't leak liquid and isn't overdosed with salt and chemicals?

Both could be found in many an East European butcher shop, but in this case they came from European Meats, a tiny, cramped room located half a flight down in an odd-looking little building, where the accent on many of the other cured products is unmistakably Hungarian, ranging from pink to scarlet with paprika; some of them hot, some slightly sweet, some both sweet and hot. There are sausages and salamis in varying shades of red -- loops of them hang from racks against the wall -- and even the glistening headcheese comes either plain or pretty in pink.

There are wieners that look pale and skinny, but plump up beautifully when cooked, and the smokies are downright zingy. The bratwurst too is excellent, as are the country-style sausages. The Bavarian meatloaf is possibly more peppery than its German cousins, and although it's hard to find a difference between Ukrainian kielbasa and this coarse garlic sausage, all are delicious by any name.

Don't overlook the baskets of chewy bread rolls made by Natural Bakery; they're great with any of the meats.

marion.warhaft@freepress.mb.ca

DINING OUT

Cafe Savour

956 St. Mary's Rd., 254-4681

Licensed

Wheelchair access via a steep ramp

3 1..2 out of five stars

European Meats

533 Burrows Ave., 586-2728

No wheelchair access

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 24, 2010 D3