Sassa Sassy

Walnut Creek residents and visitors have certainly benefited from the explosion of restaurants downtown in the last 10 years. The quality and variety bar has been raised, challenging newcomers to keep pace. This trend has even brought recognition from his highness Michael Bauer in the way of 8 straight years for Va de Vi's placement on the Top 100 list.

While many of these new establishments bring very good to excellent food to the area, they all feel "safe" in their menus.  Even Va de Vi, while in places innovative doesn't show a real flair for creativity. Mac 'n cheese again...really?

This is where Sassa shines. There are no doubt small clunks along the way; the $5 skewered Chicken Hearts tasted more of the seven pepper spice than the richness of the hearts themselves, but overall there a real feeling of passion for what Chef Sam Castro is preparing.

The $30 Sashimi Deluxe offered 6 double portion, healthy sized, and delectable nuggets. Supremely fresh, each piece was wonderful and just special enough to deserve the premium to the $22 entry level Sashimi Izakaya. The Deluxe included Sea Urchin…the fantastic Foie Gras of the sea.

The overall selection is vast but not overwhelming, and doesn’t seem to overtask the kitchen. It’s a menu that makes you want to come back to explore more. The $12 Roasted Asian Squash Dumplings, using Won Ton type wrappers as a sedan were lovely, accented smartly with a rich but not over powering Balsamic-Brown Butter sauce. Trishy loved the generous portion of $7 Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts, which were dressed with bacon and Lemon, Brown Butter & Soy sauce.

There’s not much to choose from East of the tunnel when it comes to Offal, and in fairness we’re entry level members of the nasty bits club, but Chef Castro delicately introduces the masses. In addition to the aforementioned Chicken Hearts we had the liberal potion of $12 Ika Sugatayaki – grilled jumbo whole Squid.  It was very good, although the bottom of the rounds were just a bit chewy, they were served with a nicely spiced sambal aioli.

The $13 Anago Hot Pot Rice used a perfectly poached egg to bring together BBQ Sea Eel, Scallions and Sansho Pepper. I just wish the soft boiled egg was as soft in the “Green Eggs and Ham”. A long tray of deftly handled Soy Braised Pork Cheeks dressed adorned with micro greens. The combination worked well, but oddly the Panko Breaded egg was served chilled which, in my opinion wasn’t the ideal way to set off the dish. I think the wait staff might benefit from offering a utensil other than the chop sticks with this dish to help dissect the egg.

The space in the front is very attractive, utilizing the original brickwork of this lovely old building, but the room in the back where we were seated, while nicely decorated, was a bit cold, making one feel as if they are relegated to coach class while the rest of the patrons are seated in business. The wait staff is attentive and knowledgeable, and act as if they are proud of what they have to offer. Something lacking all too often in so many restaurants. After a 15 minute wait for the car valet upon arrival the hostess took my keys and delivered my valet ticket to our table when it was finally parked. Nice.

The staff’s attention to detail is a point of difference to Va de Vi, where at times they make feel as if you’re privileged to be dining there. And while the tariff is similar, there’s more of a feeling of value at Sassa. It’s not cheap, but perhaps it just the sense of everything coming together better at Sassa.

Sassa’s menu is not ideally suited for a huge wine list, but with that said, it should be pointed their list is very disappointing, offering only a small, routine selection. Boring

If Walnut Creek is to really stand out and give us reason to stay home from San Francisco (and even Oakland now) for a special meal with innovative cuisine, Sassa's kind of new thinking is more of what’s needed here.