Full Gastronomic Tilt

News broke last week that a fixture of the Asheville fine dining scene, Savoy’s, is closing on January 31st, another casualty of the recession. But this time there’s a twist. Instead of simply shutting the doors and moving to greener pastures (a la Sugo and Damien Cavicchi), restauranteur Eric Scheffer is holding on to the space and reopening Savoy’s as Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian. Vinnie’s will have lower prices and be styled in the manner of a corner Italian restaurant like the ones you find all over the tri-state area.

That’s New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey for you non-Yankees.
I am cautiously optimistic, but with high expectations.

Though I’ve not had the opportunity to eat at Savoy, I’m familiar with Scheffer’s focus on flavor and creative approach to upscale dining. Among other ventures, he developed the uniquely marketed New York Jew wine. But how challenging will it be to transition a restaurant with nearly a decade-long track record of being both phenomenal and phenomenally expensive to one that’s affordable and drop-in casual? The Citizen-Times article mentions that entrées at Vinnie’s will be $22 and less. On Savoy’s current dinner menu, entrées range between $16-26, small plates (no doubt a recent addition) between $4-9. A $4 decrease in the upper tier of the entrée selection isn’t very much. Will the median entrée price at Vinnie’s be below $16? Granted, it was mentioned that pasta will be between $10-14, but will it be designed as a primi course or suitable for an entrée? We will see…

Anyone who knows me knows how I’ve longed for a true Italian joint. Asheville overflows with upscale Italian (Fiore’s, Vincenzo’s, Pomodoro’s, Cucina 24) and pizza (Digable, APB, Marco’s, Nona Mia’s, Circle in the Square). While Marco’s satisfies the red gravy urge to an extent, their focus is pizza and it is what they do best. While the food is good, Nona Mia’s is frequently busy, loud and due to its location, more destination than neighborhood. There’s Eddie Spaghetti…they have the right idea, but the quality is just not there. Iannucchi’s is pretty good, but a bit too far away for me to be a regular.

When I think corner Italian, I think of my favorite restaurants from up north: Elegante’s, Two Guys, Arcaro and Genell’s, Cafe Rinaldi, Revello’s…I could go on and on. What these places have in common are GREAT sauces with fresh ingredients, large portions, fresh (and free) crusty, chewy bread with butter and what can only be described as the feel - cozy, unpretentious, maybe not always the greatest service, a subtle encouragement to linger and a check that makes you think ‘Hey, I could be a regular here.’ You don’t need to have a special occasion to eat there, but they’ll certainly accommodate one. Oh, and they always have cannolis. Made with ricotta, studded with chocolate chips and dusted with confectioner’s sugar, the way God intended.

I can only hope that this is the direction Scheffer is thinking of taking.

If you’re curious about Savoy, Asheville Foodie has a post which reprints Savoy’s history in full from its website.

Speaking of foodie, the word itself came under heated debate earlier this week over at Serious Eats and The Kitchn. People argue that the f word has a cutesy connotation, is pretentious, imprecise, implies too much responsibility and is overused and misapplied.

All of these things are true.

Humans make a habit of classifying, overgeneralizing and pigeonholing things. But it’s also just a word. I don’t mind it so much, as I find it convenient for distinguishing between persons with different perspectives about food, which could in itself be considered snobbish or classist.

I’m reminded of a discussion about the labels which define us. Everyone identifies as something to someone - mother, sister, friend, book lover, student, foodie.

What do you think? Is foodie past its prime? What word would you use to describe yourself?