Saskatoon

Remember Brigadoon, the enchanted Scottish village that comes to life every 100 years, yet to its inhabitants it seems like every awakening is the passing of only one night?

Saskatoon, a Greenville, S.C.-based restaurant that opened at the snake-bitten corner of Pharr and Grandview in Buckhead this February, seems to suffer from a bit of time capsule-itis, and not in an enchanted, Scottish, let’s-watch-Gene-Kelly-cut-a-rug sort of way.

Here, pure prairie Great Northwest digs with a looming buffalo head, snow shoes and a stacked stone fireplace take you back to, oh ... game lodge circa 1982. Corn-fed beef? The menu brags about it. The bass in an off-the-menu nightly special? It’s shipped in from Mexico. The trout, the menu claims, is from Idaho.

And now, it’s time for a musical number! As the waiters scurry with trays and sing “O Canada” (okay, I’m making that last part up), you can dig into a steak of elk meat, marinated and cooked medium rare. It tastes a little like meaty cardboard, but like everything, is made better with mushrooms.

Somehow, the not-so-new-anyway idea and responsibility of eating locally and sustainably blew right by these guys. As “He’s the Greatest Dancer” blares from the outdoor patio (actually that’s Sister Sledge 1979, but if they can serve ostrich filets, then I can fudge on the time line), I feel like putting on an A-line suit with huge shoulder pads and perming my hair. Right after I rip into some raw meat.

But that won’t be necessary, since Saskatoon (which, incidentally, rhymes with Brigadoon) offers “tame game,” too. And, as it turns out, the kitchen can actually grill (over a “live” hickory grill, it claims) a center cut steak, which is especially good when blanketed with blue cheese, bacon and scallions. Other brawny notables on the menu include venison rib chops with a not-so-made-from-scratch demi glace and a sausage sampler of venison, rabbit and duck with strong grain mustard and barbecue sauce for dipping. A wedge salad is a solid offering, but how hard is it to quarter an iceberg lettuce head and cover it with bacon and blue cheese?

Another plus is that the wait staff has really bought into the whole game thing, minding its ducks and deer with a chipper, happy-to-help attitude.

Many of the appetizers, though, taste as if the Sysco food service truck backed in and the kitchen reheated: a flatbread spread with alfredo sauce, wild boar sausage, mushrooms and Parmesan is limp and prefab tasting; whiskey shrimp are barely cooked and taste nothing like even a promise of whiskey.

Longing for something that didn’t have horns before it arrived on my plate, I opted for a side of grilled cheese and mushroom polenta, hoping for a soothing mix of creamy corn goo and tangy cheese. But the dish is the culinary manifestation of the “Three Faces of Eve,” with a texture somewhere between corn bread and cake, both vying for center plate, and toasted cheese on top, making it too dry to enjoy.

Desserts are mostly forgettable, with the same fabricated undoing as many of the other dishes: An oh-so-’80s molten chocolate cake promises an oozing white chocolate and pecan center, but it never materializes (the molten center, not the cake). And cheesecake is just blah. But phyllo layered with a cross between crème caramel and crème brûlée offers a winning combination of custard mixed with baklava.

It’s hard to be this tough on a restaurant during a recession. But I’m thinking if Saskatoon’s dining concept doesn’t make it, Sister Sledge might be up for scoring a musical.

Saskatoon

Overall rating:

Food: Northwest country steak lodge

Service: Very good

Price range: $$$

Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express

Hours of operation: Open for dinner Monday through Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m. and Sunday 5 to 9. Bar opens daily at 3:30.

Best dishes: Sausage sampler, center cut steak with blue cheese, wedge salad, venison rib chops

Vegetarian selections: Not many

Children: If they like elk and steak

Parking: Adjacent parking garage with valet service

Reservations: Yes

Wheelchair access: Yes

Smoking: Outside only

Noise level: Low

Patio: Yes

Takeout: Yes

Address, telephone: 360 Pharr Road N.E., 404-891-1911

Web site: www.saskatoonatlanta.com

Pricing code: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 and less; $$$ means $50 and less; $$ means $25 and less; $ means $15 and less. The price code represents a typical full-course meal for one excluding drinks.

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