Sa.Qua.Na

One of the high points of our trip to France was dinner at Sa.Qua.Na in Honfleur.  The chef is a Frenchman who trained in Japan.  The specialty is seafood.  They just received their second Michelin star and reservations are not easily come by.  It is one of the most original and unique restaurants we have ever encountered.

We had a nine course tasting menu (accompanied by a 4 part amuse-boushe and half a dozen desert items not on the menu). There is no point listing the menu items because the words give no hint of what any dish looked like or tasted like.  Each item was a complete and pleasant surprise.  There is a case to be made that Sa.Qua.Na deserves three stars.  The original definition of two stars was a restaurant worth a detour and three stars describes a restaurant worth a special trip.  Because of its uniqueness, Sa.Qua.Na deserves a special trip.

Alas, although this was the best restaurant experience of our trip in terms of food quality and service it was the worst in terms of ambiance.  A large, drunken, loud, and obnoxious French party invaded the restaurant  shortly after we arrived.  For two and a half hours we had to listen to them scream and yell at each other. Katherine and I, facing each other a few feet away at a table for two, could not hear each other speak.  Three times in the last 50 years I have encountered a party like that at a fine restaurant in the United States and each time they were forcibly ejected.  Not so here. Katherine put it best when the hostess apologized as we were leaving.  Kat said, "Thank goodness they were not Americans."