Santé blends French flair with Southern charm in historic Matthews setting

After nearly a quarter century in business, chef Adam Reed — the owner of French-inspired American restaurant Santé — has finally mastered his recipe for focaccia.

The bread — which can be ordered as a starter — is decidedly not French, yet undoubtedly delicious. In fact, he was in the middle of baking bread when he answered the phone for our interview. It was very … chef-like of him.

The fine-dining restaurant and downtown Matthews mainstay has become known over the decades for its fresh take on French cuisine, its historic, character-rich building and dishes that let local, North Carolina ingredients shine.

“I make bread for the restaurant every day,” Reed told CharlotteFive. “I make focaccia bread, which is a nice, forgiving bread, and I have perfected my recipe for it — even though it’s not very French.” 

That’s kind of how chef Reed rolls — pun intended; he follows the flavor. Since 2001, he’s been weaving together Southern ingredients with French flair onto his menu at Santé. 

“It’s elevated, and at the same time it’s local,” Reed said. 

From NYC to CLT

Reed, a born-and-raised New Yorker who hates the heat (don’t worry, the irony is not lost on him), found his way to Charlotte in 1997. 

“My daughter says that I probably have a reverse seasonal disorder,” Reed said. “I hate the heat, and I’m a chef.”

The hectic, hustle-and-bustle New York City life weighed on him. Plus, he and his wife, Veronica, had a newborn daughter, Erin. 

“We were just tired of being in the city … living in New York is a kind of a struggle,” Reed explained. 

Reed and Veronica looked at Charlotte as a potential place to plant roots. When an opportunity to work as the chef for The Hidden Garden Restaurant in Matthews became available, Reed jumped on it. 

“There was a couple who was opening up a restaurant, and they were looking for a chef,” Reed said. “Back then, there were slim pickings. They reached outside to see if they could convince somebody to come down from New York City.” 

At The Hidden Garden Restaurant, Reed brought his French cooking techniques and his New York state of mind. But cooking in the South wasn’t quite like cooking in the Big Apple. 

“In New York … you mess up something, you screw around, and it’s like, ‘You’re out, and I’ve got 20 other people who want your job that I can call right now,’” Reed said.

“When I came down here, I came in with some of that intensity. I’ve realized over time that you can’t just be like, ‘Goodbye to you.’”

There was also another element of culinary cultural shock for Reed. It turns out, shrimp and grits weren’t exactly en vogue in New York City in the late ’90s. 

“It was a big change coming to the South,” Reed explained. ”There were things that I didn’t know existed like grits. I remember being like, ‘What’s a grit?’” 

Despite the challenges, Reed and Veronica liked Matthews. In 2001, the husband-and-wife duo purchased The Hidden Garden Restaurant from the original owners and transformed it into their dream eatery: Santé.

To your health!

Santé is named after the French toast, “à votre santé,” which translates to “to your health.” It’s a a nod to Reed’s French heritage and, in many ways, encapsulates the essence of the restaurant. 

“It evokes fine dining, friends, family gathering around the table, the importance of eating healthily — all those things combined into one name,” Reed said. 

The concept for the name — like many great ideas — was formed over dinner and drinks. Reed and Veronica often enjoy wine with their meals and toast with a simple “santé.” 

One night, after clinking glasses, the name for the restaurant became obvious.

“I was like, ‘That’s it! It’s Santé!’” Reed said.

French-inspired, American cuisine

When Reed first opened Santé, he worried that a French restaurant in the heart of downtown Matthews might intimidate people. Matthews was much smaller in 2001, and the culinary scene was not as robust. 

“When I first started out, I was thinking if I just say ‘French,’ some people might be put off by that, assuming that it might be some kind of stuffy French-American restaurant that’s just French items,” Reed said. “I didn’t want to feel pigeonholed.” 

So Reed artfully intertwined French classics with locally-sourced Southern flavors. He offered a worldly selection of wine alongside a well-curated bourbon list. If there’s one thing Reed knows, it’s his audience. 

He also trusts his staff for input. 

“About eight years ago, one of our servers approached me and he said, ‘What do you have for bourbon?’ I had some basic stuff,” Reed explained. “He was like, ‘You know, people around here really like bourbon, you should look into that.’ 

“I’ve curated probably the best bourbon selection in the Matthews area.”

Over the years, the menu has also evolved. It’s expanded, elevated and pushed boundaries. The menu changes seasonally offering classic French favorites like seared foie gras and escargot, with farm-fresh local North Carolina ingredients weaved delicately throughout. 

One dish that always stays, is the pan seared half chicken — a fan-favorite. It’s served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a herbed chicken jus. 

“We were fortunate to have a lot of support from the community,” Reed said. “They were really excited to have a good restaurant in the area.”

An industry family

The Reeds are a classic case of a restaurant industry family. While Reed is in charge of the kitchen, Veronica takes care of the front of house operations. Their presence is purposefully felt throughout Santé.

“She’s front of house and I’m back. It’s old school,” Reed said. 

Their daughter, Erin, has dipped her toes in the industry, too. She got her start in the restaurant when she was just 11. 

“The sitter that we had for her didn’t show up,” Reed said. “I was like, ‘She’s 11, she doesn’t need a sitter anymore, put her to work.’” 

Many of Santé’s employees have also been a part of the team for years, from servers to back of house staff. 

“We have two of our full-time servers who have been with us eight years and another server who’s been with us for five years,” Reed said. “I have a guy in the kitchen who — it’s funny you talk about having somebody who’s been here forever — his name is Jose. He worked for me when the previous owners had the restaurant.” 

Historic character

Santé’ is located in a historic building that dates back to the 1880s. The inside is intimate with its low lighting and linen tablecloths; it’s a perfect date-night locale. Santé also features exposed brick walls, hanging chandeliers and the building’s original pressed tinned ceilings. In the 1990s, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The building has lived many lives. Prior to being a restaurant, it was once a barber shop.

“I still have some old timers who will come in here and tell me how they remember getting their hair cut here when it was a barber shop decades ago,” Reed said.

The nearly 150-year-old building also comes with a mischievous (and fictitious) ghost the team at Santé’ has dubbed Dante. Dante has become a scapegoat for anything that goes amiss in the restaurant. 

“We call him Dante, the ghost of Santé … when anything goes wrong, it must be Dante,” Reed explained. “But it’s just made up. We don’t have any ghosts here.”

Santé

Location: 165 N Trade St, Matthews, NC 28105

Menu

Cuisine: French-inspired American

Instagram: @santematthews

Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.