Beef Tartar - doesn't look too appetizing, but beef was high quality with taste of pickles, paired with mayo and crisp crackers. It was good but a bit too slimy/mushy for my taste; I prefer tuna or salmon tartar.

Sirloin (grass fed?) with asparagus - very plain presentation. The steak was nicely cooked (medium rare), but didn't have much beef flavor.

 Salmon - nicely cooked but crust was a bit salty.

Capellini - didn't try this but my sister said it was very plain tasting; tomato sauce was sour and tasted like it was from a can. The hostess said it's a French restaurant, so only one pasta dish, but I didn't find the other entrees to be particularly "French" inspired.

My order - Summer Vegetables with couscous. Personal preference - I didn't like this dish. It was my first time eating couscous and I found the texture to be very odd, like I wasn't biting into anything. I like vegetables but this dish had some spices that had a more middle eastern flavor.

Complementary dessert - shortbread with chocolate and raspberries.

For Mother's Day, all the French/Italian restaurants I wanted to go to were fully booked. While walking in Yorkville, we passed by Sassafraz and since it was quite empty, we decided to give it a try. The restaurant is separated in two parts - a cafe area that's more casual but classy, good for a drink and people watching, and the main dining room, which is bright and beautiful French style with white table clothes, accents of green and orange and a serene waterfall.

Service: Disappointing, long wait, inattentive. We waited about 10 minutes before a server gave us bread (warm, crispy, served with butter), before we were even given water. 10 minutes after that, our server came and asked us which water we wanted - sparkling or still ($7 Evian) - when we could've just had ice water which they used to refill afterwards. Overall I felt ignored; maybe it was our server that wasn't the friendliest.

Overall: Beautiful interior and ambiance, but food and service was average for the price. Total bill around $170 for 1 appetizer, 4 entrees, 1 glass of wine, 1 Evian.