Salt & Cleaver
3805 Fifth Ave. (Hillcrest)
619-756-6677
Prices: Sides, $4; sandwiches and plates, $7 to $12

By Frank Sabatini Jr. | Restaurant Review

Since opening almost two months ago, the sausage-centric Salt & Cleaver recently transitioned from dress rehearsal to show time. If you ate at the stylishly industrial restaurant prior to last week, you likely came away yearning for longer and plumper links. As of now, the sausages have grown, weighing in at a third-pound each instead of a quarter-pound.

“People wanted them bigger and for less cost,” said Chef Carlos San Martano, who earned his culinary chops at Brian Malarkey’s Searsucker and Gabardine, as well as at a couple of Napa Valley kitchens. The size upgrades also mean larger house buns and pretzel rolls fitted evenly to their meaty occupants from end to end. Supplied by local artisan bakeries, gluten-free rolls are also available.

In an effort to bring down prices a notch, the young, ambitious chef plans to eliminate some of the specialty ingredients involved with certain recipes, such as the crispy duck confit topping duck-bacon sausage. With orange marmalade and creamy “bacon-aze” already adding verve to the scheme, it’s doubtful that the missing confit will spark public outcry.

Visiting with a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, we sampled an array of sausages that included the bigger version of the spicy Polish. By far the juiciest in our lineup, the link is available from the menu’s “create your own” section, allowing you to doctor it up with such recommended fixings as sauerkraut, grilled onions, house pickles and homemade mustards.

Most of the sausages are made at Europa Specialty Sausages, an acclaimed family operation in Orange County. But San Martano proves equally adept at the craft with a variety of raw-cured sausages he makes onsite. Among the most intriguing in his repertoire is leek-spiked lobster roulade, for which he uses shrimp mousse as a binder.

We ordered it in plate form, but with the same condiments that come with it on a sandwich. As my companion accurately pointed out, the pleasant seafood flavor takes several seconds to register on the palate in the face of tarragon aioli and zesty pickled mustard seed. Admittedly, I was a little impatient at first waiting for it to kick in.

Also from the chef’s recipe box are sausages made with whole loin of rib eye and another using pork belly. The lean rib-eye link served with Brussels sprouts was the least juicy, though not hopelessly dry. Its fine texture resembled meatloaf, which is perhaps why the chef pairs it expertly with S&C sauce, a house-made ketchup that tastes zippier than the bottled stuff.

The “chicken mango madness” with Serrano puree and pork belly sausage strewn with sambal vinaigrette were the spiciest, more so that the aforementioned Polish link. For the pork belly, lemongrass-ginger relish also came into play, adding a riot of compatible flavors from the very first bite. It ranked among our favorites. Other choices include IPA bratwurst, Nuremberg bratwurst (made with veal and pork), mild or spicy Italian and a “faceless” sausage constructed with grilled veggies. In all, there are about 20 varieties to choose from.

Side dishes are limited to three choices. We passed up the German-style potato salad in lieu of cool, refreshing cucumber fries dusted gently with paprika and house-made chili powder as well as the labor-intensive S&C fries. The spuds are initially soaked in potato liquid, and then fried and flash frozen before undergoing a second frying. The process actually seals out excess grease absorption while adding depth and richness to the flavor.

Salt & Cleaver’s central bar and open façade make it an inviting place to hang out and imbibe from a sturdy collection of whiskeys, gins and rums. A globetrotting list of draft and bottled beers obliges to the craft-brew crowd, while classic and newfangled cocktails adhere to urban trends.

Or if you’re popping in merely for a sugar fix, the chef offers old-fashion apple pie, a peanut butter brownie set on peanut brittle crust and one of the best versions of grilled pineapple east of Hawaii. His magical ingredients for elevating the fruit are cayenne pepper and a thin glaze of cinnamon and brown sugar.

As the owners and chef continue tweaking the menu and overall operation based on customer feedback, look for a grand opening celebration in the coming weeks.