Sabor Saveur

Sabor Saveur

We had a very delicious dinner tonight at the newly opened Sabor Saveur. For lack of a better descriptor, I'd use the retro-term "fusion" to describe the food here. Guess which cuisines are fused ...



…bet you didn’t guess Italian might be in the mix…

We really dug the tortellini, stuffed with soft chicharron and then sprinkled with fried chicharron and goat cheese in a tangy poblano sauce, a balancing act of textures (soft, crunchy) and flavors (spicy, rich).

The sea bass was done up “al pastor style” with an achiote-based sauce, which we thought complemented the relatively mild fish.



Check out that fruit in the photo: it was listed on the menu as “xoconoztle,” but I’m pretty sure it was mean to be written “xoconostle,” a cactus fruit.

We have so many Mexican restaurants in Chicago, we have now doubled down on Franco-Mex places (cf. Mexique).

Along with dinner, we enjoyed a Beaujolais nouveau, a $13.99 bottle of Dupueble, which was nonaggressive, quite light (of course) and worked well with both fish and meat courses. The Wife said it was the best Beaujolais she’s had in a very long while. If you go into this bottle expecting no more than a good, “un-manipulated” (no sugar added) gulp of Gamay, you’ll be happy.

Sabor Saveur is BYOB and quite a deal in many ways: intriguing and innovative preparations, a fresh rethinking of some traditional dishes, reasonably priced and fun.

Sabor Saveur
2031 W. Division
773.235.7310

Any idea who the chef is? There was an amazing "nuevo Latino/Cuban/fusion" restaurant in Schaumburg a few years back called Sabor. I was crushed when they closed. The name of the place makes and Latino fusion cuisine me wonder if there is any connection. I've never seen the chef (Christina Hernandez) pop up again, but she was wonderful, and she must be somewhere.

Cynthia wrote:Any idea who the chef is?

Yanitzin Sanchez. I believe she was cheffing somewhere else before, but I'm not sure where.

I have friends in from out of town who are adventurous food-wise but not Big City Folk. Sabor Saveur looks like it fits our criteria of good, inexpensive food and not something you could get where they are from, but I am not familiar with the neighborhood. Any thoughts?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "any thoughts on the neighborhood?", but I'm assuming your your asking if it's safe (such a relative term).

Wicker Park was rough back in the day, but now it's Chicago's version of Park Slope Brooklyn. The area is young and congested; inhabited by cubicle-slaves, those who claim to be filmakers and artists (the unemployed), wannabes, pseudo hipsters, ex-suburbanites and the youngest wave of the stroller mafia.

Nelson Algren is probably spinning in his grave...

Wicker Park. Thanks.

Rather than just post to ask questions, I thought I'd try to make an actual contribution.

I had dinner with a friend at Sabor Saveur earlier this summer, and while I found most of the food (shrimp salad, salmon in chocolate sauce, and chicken breast roulade) just okay -- although the ordering was not terribly adventurous -- I wanted to mention the bocoles appetizer as a real standout.

I'd never had bocoles before, and a search on the board turned up nothing. Bocoles are basically like a gordita, and apparently relatively common in Veracruz and nearby areas of Mexico. Our waiter at Sabor Saveur said they are relatively popular in Mexico but for whatever reason not too common in Mexican restaurants in the U.S. Although maybe their similarities to gorditas render it a moot point.

At any rate, the bocoles at Sabor Saveur contained shrimp, lobster, and bits of fish, and they were topped with a black bean, bell pepper, and chorizo mix. Delicious. At 8 bucks for 2 sizeable bocoles, I'd definitely consider BYOBbing some good beer and having a few orders of bocoles and make a meal of it.

I walk and bike past this place all of the time--three times today alone--and somehow it still completely fell off my radar. What's the feel inside? The image on the home page makes it look pretty hushed, in a severe, Richard Serra-esque way. I don't understand the interior designer's statement on the website.

Interior Designer Jeremy Bouck wrote:Yanitzin Sanchez, the chef of Sabor Saveur, studied culinary arts in Mexico. She then moved to Europe to work her way up to executing the kitchens of Paris' Ritz. Her desire was to then bring her experience to Chicago and share her culture and exposure to the American city.

Inspired by her work as an artist, the space was designed to be conceptually an art gallery, placing her ideals front and center. The predecessor to the interior design of the converted automotive shop derived also from the correlation of the two cultures and their relationship. Often celebrated but misunderstood, Cinco de Mayo is the holiday in which the french occupation of Mexico ended. By juxtapositioning the formal and informal/urban and country/vertical and horizontal/ re ned and raw/ French and Mexican the lines were blurred and a gallery manifested.

The space was then split into two divisions. Exuberant and boisterous, the first half of the space where the vertical line creates a formal situation in which the joy of the disappearing art of conversation becomes the key role. The second half with an exposed kitchen (or studio) allows for the onlooker to to see the artist (chef sanchez) at work. Juxtaposed to the formal vertical line of the front half, the horizontal curve of the second half rea rms the casual experience complete with communal dining.

Well, I definitely would not have described the space in some of the terms the interior designer did. But then again, I'm not an interior designer.

I'm basing this off just one visit, from a month-plus ago, and with my "tend not to notice architecture and design stuff" brain at work here, so my recollection isn't that fresh. But I do remember there being two distinct halves to the restaurant. The front part is more of a hushed, closed environment, with I think four-top tables kind of nooked off. And the back part is a big open space with a huge loft-like feel to it and a high ceiling. When we went it was nearly empty, so the back half was pretty quiet too, even with the kitchen there. But I guess I could see it being noisier if it fills up.

The back part was not severe or hushed, but I could see the front part being that way. The vibe from the front half was certainly part of our decision to ask to be seated in the back half.

It might also be worth noting that they did have some outdoor seating along Division as well.

I've been twice. The first time was outstanding. I had a special they called a few stew, that I wanted the second time I went and they didn't have. The second time seemed a it different to me. I had the boccoles that were described above and I thought they were so good, the table ordered another round of them. This and Ruxbin are my non asian BYOB's in the neighborhood.

Jan and I went to Sabor Saveur for dinner tonight. We had a Groupon and I'm always searching out good BYOB restaurants. This one has some ups and downs, but moostly ups so we will be back.

We started with the pumpkin flower cream cheese taquitos and a special tamal. The taquitos were decent, but it was the tomato sauce and the olive oil that set them apart. The special tamal was excellent, but I don't know what was in it as it was tough to understand the server. The sauce was a combo of a white bechamel-type of sauce along with a green mole, and it was tremendous. The white corn that the tamal was made from was super tasty. The special was $15, a really steep price but really good.

Main courses were the chocolate coated salmon and sea bass al pastor style. The sea bass was covered with a guajillo pepper sauce that was really spicy, but the corn relish helped to tame the spice. I thought the salmon would be coated with chocolate powder for searing, but it was actually covered with an unsweetened chocolate sauce and served over a corn relish. Jan liked the salmon a lot but I thought the chocolate sauce completely masked the taste of the salmon. to each his own.

We didn't have dessert as none of them were the types of desserts we care for, and they weren't worth the calories.

I like the place a lot and will definitely be back.

Friend had a $100 restaurant.com gift certificate so 5 of us made a reservation last night. Was excited when I walked in the door and saw all the "Michelin recommended" hoopla. Not excited when they told us we wouldn't be seated for 40 minutes but they would bring out an appetizer. Not excited when bland taquitos were brought out. Appetizers when we got to the table were very good (scallop special especially) but entrees completely missed the mark. What was labeled on menu as "veal medallions" was actually a very un-flavorful cut of veal with tons of fat. Friend had the filet where a good piece of meat was violated by some pumpkin seed chimichurri sauce. Two people had the lobster enchiladas and were kind of blah about them. Ordered three desserts that were forgettable also.

Worst was when we got the tab (maybe this is commonplace I don't know??) we were charged $35 of corkage on two bottles of wine and three "bombers" of beer. I understand the need for BYOB places to try and make some money off of corkage but it seemed to be overkill especially after we had four appetizers, five entrees and three desserts.

The last two Saturdays I've been to BYOB restaurants and I'm pretty sure it's a great deal for the restaurants. No inventory, no DRAM insurance and you can charge huge prices for underwhelming food (actually HB Bistro was very good but we spent just as much as when we don't bring our own booze, very overpriced).

Our friends who live in the neighborhood and have been going to Sabor Saveur since it opened and customers were scarce. Where the chef would come out and make small talk and the food was fabulous. Now the place is packed and the food is nowhere as good as before (according to them).

pizano345 wrote:Was excited when I walked in the door and saw all the "Michelin recommended" hoopla.

How can a restaurant claim that it is "Michelin recommended" when it has won neither Michelin stars nor the Michelin "bib gourmand" designation? To what, exactly, are they referring?

pizano345 wrote:Worst was when we got the tab (maybe this is commonplace I don't know??) we were charged $35 of corkage on two bottles of wine and three "bombers" of beer. I understand the need for BYOB places to try and make some money off of corkage but it seemed to be overkill especially after we had four appetizers, five entrees and three desserts.

Does Sabor Saveur have a liquor license? If they don't, it's illegal for them to charge corkage.* If they do, then they can (and yes, it's quite common for such places to charge rather hefty corkage fees, as much as $20-35 per bottle).

*City of Chicago Retail Food Guide: "BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) is permitted inside a restaurant; however the City encourages business owners to obtain liability insurance to protect against potential lawsuits. There should not be any direct or indirect fees charged for the allowance of BYOB unless the business location has a liquor license. BYOB is not permitted on a sidewalk café."

pizano345 wrote:The last two Saturdays I've been to BYOB restaurants and I'm pretty sure it's a great deal for the restaurants.

There are pluses and minuses to the restaurants. While they can save the costs of licensing fees, insurance, inventory, and shrinkage, they don't benefit from the profits associated with the sale of alcoholic beverages, which can be greater than those for serving food.

@MichelinGuideCH mentioned it positively in a tweet a few months back, I think.

nsxtasy wrote:

pizano345 wrote:Was excited when I walked in the door and saw all the "Michelin recommended" hoopla.

How can a restaurant claim that it is "Michelin recommended" when it has won neither Michelin stars nor the Michelin "bib gourmand" designation? To what, exactly, are they referring?

They have a plaque from Michelin on display. I believe it's a "bib gourmand" designation, but don't hold it to me as I've slept since I was there last.

pizano345 wrote:Worst was when we got the tab (maybe this is commonplace I don't know??) we were charged $35 of corkage on two bottles of wine and three "bombers" of beer. I understand the need for BYOB places to try and make some money off of corkage but it seemed to be overkill especially after we had four appetizers, five entrees and three desserts.

nsxtasy wrote:Does Sabor Saveur have a liquor license? If they don't, it's illegal for them to charge corkage.* If they do, then they can (and yes, it's quite common for such places to charge rather hefty corkage fees, as much as $20-35 per bottle).

*City of Chicago Retail Food Guide: "BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) is permitted inside a restaurant; however the City encourages business owners to obtain liability insurance to protect against potential lawsuits. There should not be any direct or indirect fees charged for the allowance of BYOB unless the business location has a liquor license. BYOB is not permitted on a sidewalk café."

We've had these discussions plenty of times here before. I frankly don't mind a BYOB charging a corkage if they provide decent glassware, which Sabor Saveur does. IIRC, they charge $5 per bottle corkage, which is pretty average for most BYOBs. Pizano mentions 5 bottles that they brought (two wine, three beer "bombers", whatever that is), so perhaps there's a sliding scale that goes up the more you bring. Or perhaps Pizano misinterpreted the bill and it was only $25 instead of $35.

pizano345 wrote:The last two Saturdays I've been to BYOB restaurants and I'm pretty sure it's a great deal for the restaurants.

nsxtasy wrote:There are pluses and minuses to the restaurants. While they can save the costs of licensing fees, insurance, inventory, and shrinkage, they don't benefit from the profits associated with the sale of alcoholic beverages, which can be greater than those for serving food.

BYOB is a fabulous deal for the patron. I think Pizano was just pissed off generally, because the rant against BYOBs doesn't really make sense to me. His comment about HB is confusing, because I've rarely walked out of there with the bill being in excess of $70 for two people, including tax and tip. That doesn't sound like some "huge pricing", unless your normal restaurant visit is TGIFriday's.

John Danza wrote:They have a plaque from Michelin on display. I believe it's a "bib gourmand" designation, but don't hold it to me as I've slept since I was there last.

They were not one of the restaurants given that designation, which are listed here.

nsxtasy wrote:

John Danza wrote:They have a plaque from Michelin on display. I believe it's a "bib gourmand" designation, but don't hold it to me as I've slept since I was there last.

They were not one of the restaurants given that designation, which are listed here.

The mere inclusion of the restaurant in the Michelin Guide is why they say they are "Michelin Recommended". I have the guide in my hands; there are about 200-400 restaurants in the guide. Only a small portion are Bibs or starred.

milz50 wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:

John Danza wrote:They have a plaque from Michelin on display. I believe it's a "bib gourmand" designation, but don't hold it to me as I've slept since I was there last.

They were not one of the restaurants given that designation, which are listed here.

The mere inclusion of the restaurant in the Michelin Guide is why they say they are "Michelin Recommended". I have the guide in my hands; there are about 200-400 restaurants in the guide. Only a small portion are Bibs or starred.

Again, as I recall, they are displaying a plaque they got from Michelin. So I'm not sure what the issue is here. I don't think it's appropriate to paint them as having made up some Michelin designation, if Michelin gave them the signage to post.

John Danza wrote:

milz50 wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:They were not one of the restaurants given that designation, which are listed here.

The mere inclusion of the restaurant in the Michelin Guide is why they say they are "Michelin Recommended". I have the guide in my hands; there are about 200-400 restaurants in the guide. Only a small portion are Bibs or starred.

Again, as I recall, they are displaying a plaque they got from Michelin. So I'm not sure what the issue is here. I don't think it's appropriate to paint them as having made up some Michelin designation, if Michelin gave them the signage to post.

Reread my post. I don't know why you think I said they made up some Michelin designation.

There are many thousands of restaurants in Chicago. None of them except for the ones contained in the Michelin guide are Michelin recommended. There are several hundred in the guide that are Michelin recommended (Sabor Saveur is one). Of those, only a small percentage are awarded Bibs or stars.

milz50 wrote:

John Danza wrote:[Again, as I recall, they are displaying a plaque they got from Michelin. So I'm not sure what the issue is here. I don't think it's appropriate to paint them as having made up some Michelin designation, if Michelin gave them the signage to post.

Reread my post. I don't know why you think I said they made up some Michelin designation.

There are many thousands of restaurants in Chicago. None of them except for the ones contained in the Michelin guide are Michelin recommended. There are several hundred in the guide that are Michelin recommended (Sabor Saveur is one). Of those, only a small percentage are awarded Bibs or stars.

I understand your comments and did misunderstand. The implication from NXTASY's posting was that the restaurant can't claim to be Michelin recommended. I misunderstood your response to that which indicated that being included in Michelin means that the place is by default recommended, even if they don't get a special designation. Thanks for the clarification.

John Danza wrote:The implication from NXTASY's posting was that the restaurant can't claim to be Michelin recommended.

My post did not imply that. I simply asked how they can be "Michelin recommended" if they are not designated with stars or a BG. milz50 gave the answer (thanks!).

Legality of BYOB: I could care less. Restaurants can charge for anything they want, tap water, coat check, valet, bread service, I really don't care as long as it's posted. I understand a restaurant has costs of doing business (in this case letting us bring our own alcohol) but the fact that she charged us $7/bottle (I saw the bill and am sure of that) which 3 of were big bottles of beer. The way it all went down left everyone at the table in a sour way.

(two wine, three beer "bombers", whatever that is)

A bomber is a large bottle of beer. Ones that we poured ourselves into already used glasses. As we were finishing one she would open another and put it in the ice bucket. There was no service involved, no changing of stemware, no pouring for everyone but she used her "opening" these bottles to tack on another $21 to an already hefty tab.

BYOB is a fabulous deal for the patron. I think Pizano was just pissed off generally, because the rant against BYOBs doesn't really make sense to me. His comment about HB is confusing, because I've rarely walked out of there with the bill being in excess of $70 for two people, including tax and tip. That doesn't sound like some "huge pricing", unless your normal restaurant visit is TGIFriday's.

That actually was my restaurant visits last week: HB Bistro > TGI Fridays > Sabor Saveur. I actually hit Taco Bell up in there because you can't imagine how much food you can get for $7 (I do have a once a year sweet spot for chili cheese burritos but that's another story). I know HB is one of your favorite places and off your posts is part of the reason i decided to go. And in their defense they did not charge a corkage fee. My point was more that both restaurants were able to use lesser ingredients, smaller portions and charge more because they are BYOB.

Maybe HB got grouped into my Sabor Saveur rant because of how much I disliked Sabor Saveur. I was also just making a point that people tend to flock to BYOB's because they feel it's a value and trendy and they feel thriftful which always isn't true.