Review : Soē Cafe

This past weekend, we took a little drive down the coast to Sawyer Michigan for date night. A nonchalant gem lays hidden there : Soē Cafe. I first heard of it from a friend who gave it high recommendation. I'll try any restaurant once! We went there this summer for the first time and dined on their deck next to their herb garden. The food was delicious. So we decided to eat there for our date night. It was early Sunday evening, so there weren't many patrons and we were seated right away. It was the perfect warming atmosphere after running in from the rainy night. We were seated at a four top on the edge of the main dining room. One side was lined with benches that were upholstered in fine fabric with throw pillows that made it more homey. This restaurant seemed like it belonged in a cute dining district in New York City, not buried in Sawyer. But that's just fine with me; I'm coming to enjoy the small town eateries off the beaten path.
We both ordered off of their special menu for the night. ($10 entrees that seemed divine.) I ordered the Artichoke Chicken Pesto and he ordered the Blackened Salmon with rice and veggies. After receiving a quite well-mixed pear martini, we received warm fresh-baked wheat bread, and homemade honey butter. I sat back to relax and enjoy the warm bread. The quiet music drifting through the dining room were classics like Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra. It set the mood perfectly.

Before the entrees we decided to try the Wasabi Crab Cakes. One thing I love about this place is that they take a common food like crab cakes and put a unique twist to it. The all-claw crab meat was mixed with roasted red peppers, green onions, and other aromatics, then served with a wasabi-cajun sauce that gave it just the right amount of kick.

In a few minutes we were served the soup du jour. It was chicken spätzle. I had never had spätzle, nor heard of it. I quickly used my iphone and their free wifi to do a little research. Spätzle are a type of egg noodle / small dumpling that is often served in Germany and surrounding countries. It varies in shape and size, but ours were small and round. The sound was to die for. Made fresh, no doubt, and had the perfect balance of fresh herbs, spices, and large pieces of juicy white meat chicken. The spätzle added a nice body to it, and I found the texture more pleasing that I would have thought. Doug compared it to leaving oyster crackers in the bottom of the bowl until they got soggy. Not a very appetizing thought, but these did add to the complexity of the soup. Very tasty. A perfect, warm, stick-to-your-ribs soup that complemented the cold rainy night.

Next, the pasta. They used radiatori and coated it with the artichoke pesto and tossed with tender, juicy chicken that had a nice season on the outside. They also had quartered artichoke hearts to vary the texture. The first burst of flavor is the robust artichoke, but then mellows with a traditional pesto aftertaste. The chicken added a creaminess to the palate as a whole. There was enough differences in taste and texture, that it never got overwhelming as too much of one flavor. It was very well balanced.

Doug's blackened salmon was absolutely delicious. The spices used to blacken were pepper-based and gave a kick to the smoothe, velvet fish. The vegetables were perfectly steamed, and the rice was a good way to tie it all together. (That's all I can write here because he liked it so much, I only got one bite :) )

I thoroughly enjoyed our evening. I love the atmosphere of the entire place and would like to return soon. The only downer on the evening was that we had to wait a while for our check. Our server was a bit inatentive, but to her credit, she was training someone. It didn't spoil the experience as I was well relaxed and in no rush.

I give this hidden treasure 4 stars out of 5!
★★★★