Sage Restaurant has unveiled its Winter 2021 menu featuring cuisines, cooking techniques, and ingredients from nine different countries. Seasonally inspired dishes include lamb carpaccio, roasted artichoke paella, pan-seared duck breast, and veal schnitzel, all carefully paired with colorful, engaging vegetable preparations. This menu’s inspiration stems from Spain, Japan, Thailand, Italy, Mexico, and beyond.

Additionally, the Sage bar team has created a fresh collection of cocktails to complement the new dishes, or to be enjoyed separately.

“I think the most exciting part of the new menu is the way we’re using winter vegetables,” says Sage Executive Chef Chris Covelli. “People think winter vegetables aren’t colorful or flavorful. But take our mezzaluna pasta stuffed with kohlrabi and fennel—when you put those two together, although the texture is smooth, you get this bright burst of curry because the cooking process brings out the flavor of the fennel pollen.”

Other new entrees include orange Yucatan chicken with cassava and nopales, pan-seared duck breast with popcorn grits, and cobia with sautéed wild mushrooms, asparagus, pecans, and quinoa, topped with a lemon-cured egg yolk.

For winter appetizers, the stuffed piquillo pepper with cod—an authentic Spanish favorite—will feature baby tomato confit with an almond pesto. Other starters include French onion soup, a U-8 scallop with caviar and a mint and pea puree, a prosciutto Caesar, and warm crab cakes with shredded vegetables in a ginger, shiso mirin glaze.

Beverage Director David Tlaiye echoes the vegetal emphasis. “Our new Squash Old Fashioned is an old fashioned–style cocktail with a vivid vegetal note. With the addition of an allspice dram, it really brings out the herbaceousness and spice notes of the drink.”

Incorporating citrus and hints of red cabbage, the aquavit sour pairs well with the veal schnitzel with Calvados and caraway over braised red cabbage. Other new cocktails include a Oaxacan cocoa champurrado, a Japanese highball, and a “Brandy Alejandro”—substituting tequila for brandy in this modern twist on the classic Brandy Alexander.

Sage continues to offer limited, socially distanced seating in their spacious dining room, as well as on their outdoor heated patio. In response to Covid-19, the restaurant has implemented curbside to-go service as well.

About Sage

Sage restaurant, bar, and event space (1216 1st St, Sarasota) offers a culinary experience in the Historic Sarasota Times Building in downtown Sarasota. The seasonally updated menu, designed by Executive Chef Christopher Covelli, features a variety of international ingredients and cuisines, and is accompanied by a 1920s-inspired handcrafted cocktail selection. Sage also features a rooftop bar with 360-degree views of downtown Sarasota, as well as 3,400 square feet of third-floor event space.

1216 1st St, Sarasota | (941) 445-5660 | sagesrq.com