Something Saucy

Since our son ended his first quarter of school today, we decided a celebration (aka dinner out) was in order. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) First we considered our favorite family eatery - Pei Wei - but decided to try something new instead. Actually, every time we go to Pei Wei we look at the restaurant next door - Sauce - and contemplate eating there. So tonight we made the move, much to our delight.

Sauce is set up like Pei Wei in that a person views a large menu, places an order, gets his own drink, and finds a table where he places a number that shows servers where to deliver the food. When we arrived at 5:45 the place was busy, but not packed. (When we walked back to the car at about 7:30 after doing a little strolling, there was a line out the door.) Inside, the restaurant (like so many others these days) was filled with hard surfaces that noise bounces off of repeatedly, creating a din of echoes and voices. Luckily the patio area has misters to combat the unseasonably warm temperatures. In addition, the building shielded the tables from the bulk of the sun, so umbrellas weren't necessary.

After obtaining our drinks (a couple of sodas and one orange iced tea), we adjourned to the relative quiet of the patio. The food arrived promptly with courteous servers who checked back several times to pick up empty dishes, bring extra napkins, and even refill drinks. Jeff and I each had a gourmet pizza, while the boy had a meatball and mozzarella panini (served with garlic salt potato chips). Sauce has their own ultra-thin crust that is soft toward the center and crunchier at the edges where the oven makes it light and cracker-like. Jeff opted for the fontina, mozzarella, and fresh basil combo, which was excellent. The cheeses were well balanced and bubbly on top without being browned. The base sauce tasted like sweet, fresh tomatoes and the basil seemed straight from the garden. My pizza had wafer-thin slices of fingerling potatoes dusted with black pepper on top of chopped spinach and olive tapenade. The sauce here was not as noticeable under the other strong flavors, but the combination was very good. (Though, I think Jeff's may have been better because of its fresh simplicity.) The potato gave the pizza an interesting texture that I really enjoyed. Finally, the boy's sandwich was yummy, too. He scarfed down all but one bite, which I plucked from his plate to taste. The panini bread was light and grilled to perfection while the inside contained enough cheese to envelope the meatballs. A small bowl of the same sweet tomato pizza sauce came with the sandwich for dipping.

In the end, we enjoyed eating at Sauce. The food was interesting (including the salad list, which I'd like to go back and try) and the service was prompt and friendly at about the same price as Pei Wei. Though I don't foresee Sauce replacing our family favorite, I'm glad we gave it a try at last.