Sante, Ottawa

Up front, one must understand that a reservation at Sante is not what it is at most restaurants. Took my partner to this joint last week and were finally seated after being virtually ignored at the front door for nearly 40 minutes. The absence of anywhere to sit made the delay that much more enjoyable. When we were seated, the service was good as was the wine list. However, the pricing left me wondering what it was that I was paying for. If all ingredients were certified to be organic, I would have understood---going organic is indeed costly. However, if it was all organic food, noone let us know...and as good as the food was, it was not worth the big-league prices. Finally, I was given a $10 voucher last time I visited Sante as a gesture of good will for....you guessed it, an unacceptable wait. So I present this "sorry" voucher only to have the waiter inform me that they don't accept them anymore. I had thoroughly examined said voucher before going to Sante and there is no small print exemption listed on the voucher. I know others who have had the same problem with Sante and the vouchers from the popular entertainment discount books. Between the wait and rejection of vouchers, I really can't see myself taking anyone to Sante again...which is too bad cause the waiter really was a great chap.