For several years, the biggest culinary trend in Europe and the major cities in the United States have been small plates or individual servings. While some restaurants gravitated toward the tapas style of serving appetizer size portions, the true culinary pioneers are taking a different approach of “individualizing” the serving sizes and giving customers complete flexibility to “design” their own dinner.
What does all this mean? Instead of bundling a steak with a baked (or micro-waved) potato, iceberg lettuce based salad, and previously frozen batch processed vegetables, these cutting edge restaurants take the essence of each part of the meal and prepare them with incredible attention to taste and present them with beautiful plating. Generally the main entree platings are expertly paired with a small side dish that is intended to enhance the overall taste experience. So, instead of being forced to eat accompaniments that you may not want or that may not have any particularly great flavor or taste, you can mix and match the side dishes to enhance your dining experience.
How does all this work? For example, you may want a beautifully prepared petit filet mignon with wild mushroom gratin, and your spouse or significant other may choose succulent truffled scallops on polenta with black caviar. Then you may choose organic greens, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, and gnocchi tater tots to share and truly make the meal your own combination of flavors.
Not only does this trend have the advantage of letting you create your own dinner combinations each time you dine, the superior quality of ingredients and the portion sizes used by these restaurateurs create a much healthier, more flavorful and truly complete dining experience. It also has the distinct advantage of giving you complete control over the total cost of your meal as these individual platings are generally much lower in price than an entire old style entrée dinner.
Sake Bistro is part of this exciting culinary experience and uses only the finest, freshest ingredients. They make almost everything from scratch; sauces, purees, pastries, chocolate and even their ketchup. Their all Cordon Bleu chef staff takes great pride in taking the essence of great recipes, making them extraordinary, and giving the same level of attention to every item on the menu. With a menu that changes every month, their culinary skills are constantly tested, adding new taste sensations to keep the dining experience fresh and exciting every time you visit. Adding to the dining options, the freshest sushi from around the world prepared by a former executive sushi chef from world famous Nobu and Matsuhisa, lunch or dinner at Sake is guaranteed to delight your taste buds with big city dining at Santa Clarita prices. Menu items from $5 to $19.
Open for lunch at 11:30 a.m., Sake Bistro & Sushi is located at 23889 Newhall Ranch Road in Valencia. For more information, please call 661-255-SAKE and visit online at www.sakebistro.com.