sante restaurant & charcuterie

enjoyed an amazing dinner here early on a friday night, greeted and seated promptly and politely by the hostess. our server arthur was amazing and explained the key dishes and all of the local sourced fare and beverages. the charcuterie board was amazing, every bite and combination of carefully curated meats, cheese, fruit, etc tasted like heaven. we enjoyed the special pasta dish of the evening with locally foraged morrell mushrooms and halibut with tomato risotto. everything tasted amazing and theservicewas spectacular. was pleasantly surprised by the "palette cleansing" bites served before our starter and entre. would highly recommend the bartenders choice for drinks based on your drink preference of sweet, fresh, etc and alcohol type garnished and sourced locally as well! overall amazing experiance and will be going back again soon for sure!

so wanted to like sante. contrary to some other reviews,servicewas spot on. our waiter knew the menu and was attentive but didn't make us feel like we were being hurried. but..... for price, servings are skimpy. on the charcuterie plate, a couple of the sausages were desiccated almost to the point of being jerky. flavors of the entrees were across the board. the carbonara was good, with the creamy/eggy/salty combination that results from a good use of a good bacon. but the braised beef -- dry and stringy. only reason it wasn't sent back is that it was the wife's order and she doesn't do that kind of thing. so, positive for high aspirations and imaginative cuisine. deductions for inconsistent execution.

we love the food at sante but hate the service. over the past year theservicehas declined. its like they are trying to be rude. its always the same 2 employees. the other night we were in and choose to sit in the bar section and the hostess again was rude and we felt like we were annoying her because we went to get 4 more menus since we were only given 2 in a party of 6. the butcher bar waiter/bartender (the guy with sleeve tattoos), is purposefully rude. he is always that way. my wife who loves to eat at sante wont go anymore if he serves us. sante its time to get rid of these 2 and find employees that are kind and make you feel welcomed.

poor service. i can longer recommend santé as my favorite spokane restaurant until jeremy and kate hansen seriously review and rectify theirservicestandards. what should've been an enjoyable and special valentine's day dinner was ruined by the utter rudeness and impertinence of our server, shawn. our dinner began without a welcome or a greeting and literally with the words "you have two choices..." his attentiveness thereafter was lackluster at best, and when he forgot our intermezzo and we had to interrupt another server to point out the omission, no one, least of all shawn, apologized. we were told there was a miscommunication with the kitchen and were served our intermezzo instead with our main course. at this point, shawn did comp us a couple of glasses of wine, but i didn't want the alcohol at that point and sent it back. it would've been nice if he had given us an option on drinks instead. his demeanor became surly by this time, and he insinuated that i should've appreciated his gesture (for his mastake, mind you). half-way through my entrée i lost what remained of my my appetite, and by the time dessert was served, i asked another server for the bill instead because at that point we couldn't finish the meal. i have never felt so disrespected as a customer. maybe it's because we're a gay couple, or maybe he assumed we didn't have the money to spend because of the way we look, but whatever assumption he made about us tainted the entire evening. when we sent back the desserts that he hurriedly placed in front of us without even explaining their details, shawn flippantly said "suit yourselves, that's ok, i can eat them then." when we asked to speak to a manager to give feedback about our experience, shawn insisted that he was the manager and put up more of an affront. when i protested, he refused to let us pay the bill at that point and handed me back my card as if that were our intention, and told us sarcastically that he "hoped we enjoyed our $270 meal (much more than the actual price of the dinner). is this the standard ofservicethat jeremy and kate hansen want to exemplify through their ventures? i seriously hope not. this was our third, and sadly, will be our last, valentine's day dinner at santé. for special event dinners such as valentine's day, i would suggest that jeremy and kate continue working to improve the timing of the courses with the house and the kitchen, as they have struggled with this issue all three valentine's day dinners we have attended. they also need to fire shawn. simple as that. as for the menu: it's not as innovative as it has been in years past, and quite frankly, i had such a distaste for shawn that the cuisine didn't really appeal to me this year. the chef essentially repeated last year's menu (seared muscovy duck, wagyu beef), but used a less-quality fish (sablefish) this year.


-----20 feb, 2013-----

excellent choice. my fiancé and i chose santé for our special valentine's day dinner. we decided on ordering from their special valentine's day menu, which consisted of several plates accompanied by wine pairings. we were delighted with our choice.

from the amuse-bouche to the dessert course, the plates made for a memorable meal. on the menu were such offerings as tempura-battered fried frog's legs and rustic rabbit sausage, which excited the palate. the accompanying choices of wine for each plate gave a lovely finish to each item.

i appreciate that santé uses fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and regional wines for their menu. that was part of the appeal when choosing it for our special dinner.

service was good, but not great. our waiter was either too soon or too late with the wines for each plate. we had to remind him on one occasion to fill our glasses. he did compensate by offering us a complimentary glass of prosecco and a dish of basil ice cream, both of which were superb.

overall, we could not have chosen a better restaurant for our day. santé is doing it right.

wow!. best pate i've ever had outside of france. i had to finish it all! excellentserviceand delicious food offerings, but pricy. well worth the visit.

lovely food, poor service.. beautiful and delicious food but..... there is more to a dining experience and sante failed our group on several counts. mistakes can be overlooked, but not rude and arrogantservicefrom the staff. the menu was somewhat difficult to decipher and questions about the menu were met with equally indistinguishable responses. really, customers are supposed to feel stupid when asking for clarification on a menu item? this happened to several members of our group. these are not uneducated or inexperienced diners. we had guests with us from new york and a nationally recognized author. the staff was informed that one person at our table needed to leave early and was asked to prepare and serve her before the rest of the party. instead, my son, who had ordered last, and was in no hurry, was served his meal about 10 minutes before anyone else, including our guest of honor, who needed to leave early. needless to say, she did not have time to finish her meal before having to leave. my son felt embarrassed sitting there with his lovely dinner going cold with no one else served. and one of our party was not served the dinner she ordered at all! did the server notice? no. when it was pointed out, there was not time to prepare her dinner, and so she was brought a bowl of soup as a substitute. she was not given an option and the soup was one she never would have chosen and was not to her liking at all. obviously she did not eat it. no apologies, nothing complimentary from the restaurant to make up for the fail. through it all our server was cold and arrogant. not a good compliment to the fabulous flavors coming out of the kitchen. kudos to the chef!

restaurant weel. went to sante for the start of restaurant week and had a great dinner. food was excellent andservicewas fantastic. our group of 6 tried all of the items in the three courses and all were very delicious. wine parings with each course were well suited for each dish and there were unexpected little palate cleansers between each course. it was my first visit and i will go back.

valentines dinner. the dining experience we had on 2/15/14 was truly disappointing. theserviceand food was honestly beyond description. the water glasses were never freshened, the meal was salty and tasteless, and the staff honestly ignored us.. when i dine in a supposed "fine dining" establishment i expect a lot more. i would never return and recommend you drive to post falls, fleur de sel for a outstanding meal.

meh.... i don't understand sante. we have been going there for close to 4 years. we have had great food, ok food, mediocre food. we have had great service, okserviceand poor service. we boycotted them for at least a year and went back a few months ago and were pleased. tonight we had pretty good food and poor service. it was surprising. i am not sure when we will go back after this one.

it seems they have one main wait person and a lot of "help." the problem with this is no one seems to know where their roles end and someone else's role begins. our waitress never introduced herself by name, and never once asked how our food was, and we had 3 courses, so she had plenty of opportunity. i think she felt if she walked by and we needed her, we would 'holler... and we didn't, so i guess she never bothered to ask... and it got a little strange.

i ran out of wine and she never asked if i needed another glass. she never once described the food in detail as most professionals would do. the person who brought our salads and amuse bouche did a great descriptive job, but the main waitress never described the menu and when asked what the beef or fish or pork was, she merely said "new york steak" or "coho salmon" never bothering to mention the preparation. at some point we began to feel slighted, in spite of a bill of $150 before tip.

my husband had pork and enjoyed it. i had a chicken roulade and didn't think it was great.. certainly not $24 worth. the salad was delicious and the gnocchi was ok. i think we are taking another year off. at least.
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amazing!! went with my family and we all loved it. it is priced really good. theservicewas wonderful and she was super helpful because my daughter and i are both gluten intolerant. i ordered the pork confit hash and it was exceptionally good. so good that my kids kept steeling bites from me :-) the coffee was some of the best we have ever had. if we are ever in spokane we will be going again for sure!

very memorable meal. i can count on one hand the times i've had a meal that comes close to dinner sunday night at sante in spokane. unforgettable scallop appetizer, beautifully presented pan seared trout, a lentil dish that we couldn't get enough of, basil ice cream - some of the tastes of a memorable evening. thoroughly knowledgeableservicewent way beyond expectations, wine was superb - very happy out of town family of guests left sante - and we hope to be back there some day. thanks to all!

uh..... one last comment after reading several other comments...you would think the staff that is hired is staff that would make the patrons want to come back - not avoid going because of the crappy attitude they receive from the staff.


-----24 apr, 2012-----

dislike. i had been wanting to try out sante for a while now. had an opportunity to have lunch there this past saturday after picking up our packets for race for the cure. i had the quiche lorraine with side salad. the quiche was okay but the salad really lacked. the greens in the salad had seen better days and there were numerous pieces that were brown and wilted. not something i would serve my guest. my daughter had the chicken terrine sandwich with side salad. had we known the meat was pretty much bologna (texture, taste, look of) with herbs we would of passed. the grilled veggies made it easier to go down. her side salad was also wilted and brown. i think what turned us off the most was the staff. no one came around and asked how our meal was. no one refilled our water (until we were done with our meal and water glasses empty). the young man that seated us (tall, blond hair) was very nice, smiled and seemed to enjoy his job. our waitress left much to be desired and was pretty much rude. her customerserviceskills were terrible. no smile or hello. no chit chat and not even a stop by after the meal was served to see how things were. either she didn't like us, her job or both. the lunch was a waste of money for sure - but it was time well spent with my daughter on a beautiful day. i guess i just like to be treated the way i treat others. didn't happen at sante - well except for the young man that seated us.

don't believe the hate.... i am amazed by the childlike negativity of some of the recent reviews. i have dined at sante over 100 times and i would say about 90% of the meals were inspirational the other 10% maybe just damn good. if you read the menu and do a bit of research you will find that they use fresh local ingredients and have personal relationships with many local farmers and ranchers that stimulate our economy. it's possible that someone may have been dissatisfied with their meal, theserviceor the portion size. the former 2 complaints are a matter of personal taste. as for portion size, perhaps you should reevaluate how much you eat. american mega-portions are disgusting in my opinion, and are terribly unhealthy. it you want a big plate of food go to the swinging doors.

what is amazing about sante is what they are trying to accomplish and how much they support other restaurants and local businesses. two years ago when they opened their doors downtown was dull and flavorless. thanks to young, daring, and innovative restaurants and businesses like sante, spokane is beginning to really come into its own.

as far as expense goes, you get what you pay for. my fiance and i shop at co-ops and make other "expensive" decisions in favor of our bodies and our health. we can taste and feel the difference. in my opinion the money i have spent at sante was worth every penny.

if you want to save money avoid the wine pairings or ask them for prices. they have more economical wine options if you ask. this will save you a ton, as some of their higher priced wines are $10 or more a glass.

bottom line... i love sante. i hope you will too.

a diamond in the rough. the heart of spokane. sante restaurant is not just your regular dining experience. i pass by this little gem everyday and finally had the chance to stop in and let me tell you, i am a lover and appreciator of wine and charcuterie and sante raises the bar in spokane. you are greeted by a beautiful contagiously happy waitress who simply makes you feel at home. the air is tantalizing, with odors of cured meat and fresh cheeses all from local farmers, and most made in house. i was blown away. knowledgable, extremely welcoming staff, walls covered in thought provoking artwork. not to mention the restaurant is connected to a peaceful book store. the staff at sante seem to love what they do and they sure do love to make you feel at home and comfortable. the food looks like it was taken right out of a magazine the street level view makes you feel like you are dining in new york, the atmosphere and music is rejuvenating, the experience in general is what you pay for and i gladly applaud and support the staff and creators there at sante. bravo. yourserviceis impeccable, your food is indescribable, the experience is priceless. thank you! and best of wishes. i'll be back!

yuk!!!. wow, what a horrible dining experience... we'll never go back there again...servicewas a mess, oue table wasn't even clean when we sat down and the owner chef jeremy seemed to be in not very good mood that night as we heard him chastising an employee close to the dining floor... the food was over priced and mediocre at best...

we've eaten in french restaurants in seattle and new york and this by far pales in comparison.

we will never be back to sante again, no way!!