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Raising the Bar
Savoir Fare offers fine wine, fine food, fine atmosphere: There may be a sure-fire method to keeping your business booming in an economic slump: Sell alcohol and stay open later, as longtime Round Hill resident Joan “Joannie” Wolford can attest. For Wolford's 10-year-old business, Savoir Fare, introducing the relaxing atmosphere of a wine bar has created the perfect incentive to try her amazing food.
Wine bars continue to thrive in the Northern Virginia/D.C. metro area, and Wolford decided to try her hand at operating one. Mainly a catering company, Savoir Fare's West Loudoun Street location in Round Hill has provided sandwiches and soups for three years. Now, with later hours and a full wine menu, "The restaurant has brought more exposure to the catering business, but it also works both ways," Wolford said.
You can tell Wolford has put her heart and soul into the sandwich-shop-turned-restaurant. Specializing in catering – after all, “There will always be weddings,” she says -- Wolford realized last fall that she needed to serve more than just sandwiches and soups in her small shop. It was time to do some interior decorating and figure something else out. So on March 20, she began selling wine.
Although the local and imported wines attract faraway customers to the quaint and cozy bistro, it’s her French-influenced buttery sauces and rich creamy soups that bring them back for more. Savoir Fare is not just any “sip-and-graze” restaurant.
“A wine bar is usually a good thing on a main street in a highly populated area,” Wolford said. “But what I didn’t realize is that Savoir Fare was looked at as a destination restaurant.”
Diners wanted more than just small plates and tapas with their wine; they were hungry for full entrees upon arrival. She now provides four or five entree specials (not on the menu, priced $14-$18) for her guests every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
“It’s different every night,” she said. “Business has been good -- it just took adjusting.”
For fans of Virginia wine, try a flight of Virginia Loco Whites ($9). The generously poured glasses are the perfect accompaniment to her light entree of seared tuna topped with fresh mango salsa and served over steamed rice.
For the light eaters reading this, the following may not appeal to your heart-healthy senses: A serving of fresh bread glazed under liberal amounts of melted butter and Gruyere cheese is perfect for dipping in one of Wolford's signature soups. The carrot curry soup ($3) is served in a tea cup, but could almost be served in a demitasse cup as a shot of velvety goodness. Minced carrots fall to the bottom of a smooth heavy cream and herb-based broth. Just a hint of curry gives it a mild charm.
Wolford said what she enjoys most is providing a destination for residents to enjoy.
"At some point in the evening I will look outside the window and see a couple who has just eaten here, holding hands, walking up the street," she said. "And I think, 'The town has got to love a place like this to walk to.'"
So besides for the savory food, relaxing wine bar atmosphere and beautiful outdoor scenery, what else makes a trip to this small town worthwhile?
“We’re all really good-looking,” said hostess Heather Self.
Rebekah Pizana is a food writer and gourmet chef with a degree in journalism from Patrick Henry College. She can be reached at gourmetwriter@gmail.com.
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