Sage Restaurant Recommendation
(Recommendation Reminder… staff, locations, operating hours, menus, prices can change over time, so call ahead and I wish you good eatin’).
Recommendation written 3/2011: Los Angeles has a new vegan eatery that’s off to a great start. If I had to choose three words to describe Sage Organic Vegan Bistro, they would be flavor, freshness and creativity. The quality and variety are impressive at Sage; the selection is so interesting that it was difficult to decide what to order. In addition to being an inviting menu, the prices are really reasonable; the lunch entrees are $7 – $9.
We had the Jamaican Jerk Burger that had great flavor, but it doesn’t have the consistency of a traditional burger – it’s more of a spread consistency – a little messy, but yummy: black bean and walnut burger, jerked portabella and leeks, sliced mango with saffron mango aioli on a fresh seeded bun. It was served with homemade potato chips and red pepper ketchup.
We also had the Hearts of Palm Salad, which was chock-full of fresh ingredients: hearts of palms spears, roasted beets layered w/ rosemary cashew cheese, cherry tomatoes, kalalmata olives, cucumber, artichoke hearts, pignolia, pomegranate seeds and shaved fennel on baby greens with garlic vegetable vinaigrette.
Sage serves fresh juices and carries desserts from Baby Cakes Vegan Bakery. The fresh apple juice made with Braeburn apples was so good… so good!
The atmosphere was great and the staff was friendly and accommodating. There were a few ‘new establishment glitches’ like running out of things on the menu. But Sage uses fresh organic ingredients and is pretty busy for a new joint. Since it was so busy, we were surprised to find out it had only been open for a couple of weeks when we were there the first time, so it’s to be expected that they need some time to find their groove.
Did you catch that… I said, when we were there the first time. We enjoyed lunch at Sage so much that we went back for brunch and we were not disappointed. The brunch entrees are also $7 – $9 and the menu is just as interesting, although there are more dishes with soy, which I avoid. But I had plenty of soy-free dishes to choose from: White Bean French Cassoulet, Potato Lattkes, Date and Orange Buckwheat Pancakes… to name a few.
At the time we were there, their hours of operation were, Brunch: Sat and Sun 9am-5pm, Lunch: Mon-Fri 11am-5pm, Dinner: 7 days a week 5pm-10pm, but as usual, I recommend that you call ahead to check current hours and location.I’m looking forward to eating at Sage again. Hope you check it out and tell them Veganish.org sent you!
Sage Organic Vegan Bistro Locations: California — Culver City & Echo Park
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