“I feel like I just ate all of Provence,” blurted my dining companion as we moseyed out of Savory doggy-bagless. The Encinitas restaurant, owned by French chef Pascal Vignau, presented us with dishes so simplistic and flawlessly countrified that it was impossible to leave anything uneaten.

That we packed into our stomachs multiple courses, though each modestly portioned and not drowned by cream in the hardcore French sense, left me echoing my friend’s groans of contentment on the ride home. Did we really need to toss into the lineup onion soup gratinee crowned with toasted Gruyere cheese and fat homemade croutons? When there’s a French guy at the helm of the kitchen, absolutely. Vignau goes the extra mile by adding Madeira wine to his stockpot, and avoids a heavy hand with the salt shaker so that the onions burst with sweetness.

A salad of baby spinach with warm artichoke hearts hiding beneath was light and delicious, and merged perfectly with a delicate dressing infused with black olives – not yet the cause for popping open our belt buckles afterward. Another starter, a plate of air-dried Serrano ham with firm slices of Basque cheese that looked like raw potatoes, became significantly more substantial as we polished off every last wedge of vine-ripe tomato accompanying the protein-rich arrangement.

From appetizers to entrées, Savory’s menu provides suggested wine pairings at every stop for those who haven’t discovered the joys of drinking a crisp Viognier with a sprightly green salad with toasted goat cheese, or, say, an old world, inky-red Rhone to wash down a hearty beef pot roast. Some might argue that the amenity fits the restaurant’s outer suburban location, assuming that folks in this neck of the woods haven’t caught up to their metro counterparts in terms of matching exquisite cuisine to fine wines. Yet I say all restaurants of this caliber and above should take the leap to better move their wine inventories while easing the decision-making process for their everyday customers.

Vignau’s previous 18-year tryst cooking at Four Seasons resorts around the globe gives Savory diners a taste of world cuisine with sturdy French foundations, such as Beef Bourguignon made with beef cheeks that are then braised in natural juices and wine to form a thick, dark sauce. Served appropriately in a heavy copper pot, the beef was unctuously tender and oozed so much flavor that I couldn’t fully detect wine in the sauce. The Mas Neuf Costieres de Nimes, a very big French red residing in my stemware, duly compensated. Par-cooked carrots and a high-carb white sweet potato in the pot added to the recipe’s excellent homey essence.

My companion’s entrée, a shellfish bake, presented him with a few ounces of light cream coating several large black tiger shrimp, mussels, mushrooms and a small lobster tail. The dish’s crabmeat crust added lushness as it broke apart from a few gentle pokes of the fork and dispersed fine pastry granules into the cream. Quite divine.

Savory’s interior is as comfortably dressed as its food – a neighborhood restaurant of sorts countered with a sleek, modern design featuring colored glass light fixtures, smartly upholstered banquettes and soundproof panels on the ceiling. The dining room is cozy and holds only about 55 people.

Among the other highly caloric dishes on Vignau’s seasonal menu are Duck Leg Confit with bacon and braised lentils, Beef Tenderloin in a bleu cheese crust, Lamb Osso Bucco off the bone and Garlic Chicken with potatoes and haricot vert. Fish is offered daily, according to what’s fresh on the market, and there are also various vegetarian selections that change each evening.

Vignau’s signature Pear Crisp is featured in Ingrid Croce’s latest release, The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook. Finally, a fruit crisp that doesn’t incorporate the bland and chewy elements of oatmeal. Instead, a thin, cookie-like crust crowns the pears, which I wished were cut down to half their size for softer texture. But the dessert is fresh and memorable, and worth the sugar intake nonetheless. As was my companion’s hot and gooey-in-the-middle Bittersweet Chocolate Cake blessed with Noel chocolate from France.

“People ask all the time for the chef’s recipes,” said our waitress. “And we give them out on paper or through e-mail because they’re surprisingly simple.” That, my fellow diners, proves that Savory operates with panache and confidence.