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Thyme for SAGE

When I first moved to Las Vegas, I created a notebook of all the restaurants I wanted to go to. And then I never stopped looking at food websites or “best of” or “to do” sites and the list just grew and grew and I basically need to eat somewhere new for every meal for every day in order to cover my list….
but today I can cross another excellent choice off of my “to-do” list.

SAGE at the Aria hotel.

There are so many amazing chefs and amazing restaurants in the hotels, Sage is certainly one of the higher end ones, so to be saved for special occasions, like the momma bear coming to town.

We had already had our martini’s at the Stratosphere and so we skipped cocktails and went straight to food.

Before we even began they brought out a tasting of fresh lamb tartar with homemade horseradish mustard and a slice of pickle. Best spoonful of my life.

Starter

 GRILLED SPANISH OCTOPUS  
Sunchoke-Potato Puree/Roasted Beech Mushroom/Toasted Marcona Almond
Since it was just the two of us, they split the starter and gave us each our own prepared plate. It may not look good to you, as seafood often does not. But it was phenomenal. You may be thinking, oh octopus is SO chewy…yah, I thought that too….apparently not when the octopus is made of pure heaven. This was the most tender octopus of my life. I’m scared to say the tenderness of like a hot dog cause that sounds nasty but  it just melted in your mouth. The marcona almonds were so buttery and gorgeous too. The octopus was so fresh and did not have an overwhelming fishy taste to it. I would have eaten an entire plate of this for my entree if I had a choice.
But instead, I went with
MAINE DAY BOAT SCALLOPS
Braised Oxtail/Wild Mushrooms/Salted Caramel Reduction
Again. The most tender, perfectly cooked scallops I have ever had. And I am from Florida, so I have had a lot.You can’t see the oxtail in the middle of the scallops but…it was so tender and flavorful and paired so incredibly with the scallops. And the sauce. You may be thinking “salted caramel?? sounds like dessert!” but I assure you it was not. It was more of an asian leaning sauce and the caramel just hit right through the acidity of the sauce perfectly. I should have taken notes at dinner of exactly how everything tasted so I could relay this more effectively for you…but alas I did not. 
My mother ordered
COLORADO LAMB SADDLE
Fava Beans/Braised Lamb Shank-Wheatberry Salad/Artichoke 
No picture, unfortunately, but you can kind of see it here
I only had one bite of this, but I can assure you, it was tender and juicy and delicious and everything else it could possibly be.
And then I remembered that Sage was on “Best thing I ever ate” on Food Network for the “Frightully Good” episode, you can read here.
I forgot which kind of Absinthe to get, so we got the classic… and the strongest…at 140 proof
They light a sugar cube on fire over the absinthe in the glass and then pour water over it to turn it a milky green. It tastes of licorice and the people at the table next to us told us they could even smell it! It is a bit of a pricey drink…and obviously strong…so we shared it..
But in case you have’t caught my point, this place is amazing. I certainly hope to return at some point and do the Chefs tasting menu [which is a bit more than we were looking to spend tonight]. If you don’t believe ME on this, then read a couple other reviews on this gem!!
And here is a link to the menu for you to peruse at your leisure.
Enjoy!!
Let me know if any of you have been to Sage or have a suggestion for another place to try!

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