Sage delighted

[teezeetoo]

Finally got to Sage at its new location. I had to get over being grumpy at losing the lovely Caffe Umbra. We had a delightful dinner and four of us were happy: spinach polpetti with rabbit made a fine beginning. I loved my veal breast and my spouse loved his sole. We all shared a side of delicious spinach with mushrooms and ended with the four of us splitting the 7 cheeses on the menu as desert. Every single cheese was at its right point. A good and reasonable bottle of white from Lombardy pleased us all. Service was attentive and we liked the room as well. We're looking forward to a return visit.

[Zabelle]

I would like to possibly have the chance and get in the new space : I have tried 2 times and both of those times I have been ignored by the bartenders (once you get in the door) or whoever plays the host. Granted both times I have been in around 11 pm (no I dont do it on purpose :-)), but considering that they claim the kitchen to be open till 12 I would think that they at least tried to be nice and welcoming : especially now with a bigger space and trying to get into the SE scene !
I truly think that in Boston there is a major lack of understanding of the industry these ventures belong too : it is about hospitality and this is precisely what they dont provide !
Owners need to rethink staff or change hours of operation ... and mean it !

[teezeetoo]

i hope you do get in and try the appetizer with rabbit ragu and the veal breast. I'm with MC, I found those both satisfying as traditional fine italian food and eccentric enough to represent the chef's take on the traditional. while i fully understand the differences in perspective (I say tomato and you say tomotto) I don't really understand the simmering anger that accompanies some of the critiques here. Yes the restaurant business has become vastly show businessy and many fine chefs without lots of cash can't get coverage but that doesn't mean that a place like Sage, which is the result of 10 years of customer connecting in the smaller North End location, doesn't hold its own. I often think of the tons of deserving little places chowhounds try to keep alive (like YoMa and Trattoria Toscana) and can make a cogent argument that dozens of small ethnic restaurants in Boston are far higher price/quality ratio than the so-called fine dining experience. And many of us are struck by the lousy service that can accompany otherwise good food (Ariadne comes to mind for one). But outside of Europe and a few really good restaurants who treat their serving folks like professionals, make sure they are rewarded for their talent, and expect them to stay on staff, most restaurants are being serviced by people waiting for their "real jobs" to begin and most restaurants are comfortable exploiting their waitstaff. I started this post by saying what a lovely meal we enjoyed at Sage and how I was happy they had made the transition so well. I stick by my story!

[stillworkinonthat]

Sage is wilted ! I had the exact opposite experience. Totally distracted server, Misguided food and a way too overpriced wine list. One example, Cline zinfandel costs 7-8 bucks wholesale, here it is $40.00. I think the chef is trying way too hard to create precious food, but can not deliver. And if your going to open a "high end" restaurant in the South End, then you need to be consistent in your quality and service. Caffe Umbra didn't make it here and they had good food. This place is like a clone of the former, except the former had a better palate. Why the heck would you open a similar restaurant when the one you replaced blew up?
I think it is sad these restaurants feel the need to try so hard to impress when all they need to do is to be good!
Simple advice yet so many clueless restaurateurs.

[MC Slim JB]

I believe Caffe Umbra folded for reasons other than financial. I don't see the similarity between its menu and Sage's that you do. Brennan's menu at Caffe Umbra was about equally rustic French and Italian, where Susi is doing an all-Italian, slightly more creative menu at Sage. I loved Caffe Umbra and was sorry to see it close, but I also like Sage's food a lot. I've had some new menu items recently, like a veal breast entree and a pork braciole appetizer, that were outstanding. I've also had uniformly excellent dining room service, though I prefer the atmosphere in the bar.

I don't know how long ago you ordered that wine, but I've seen new bottles and better deals on Sage's list lately, even at the low end, where markups tend to be highest. I had a $30 bottle of a Spanish red that I regularly get at retail for about $10, pretty reasonable as fine-dining wine list markups go in Boston.

[stillworkinonthat]

As I said, I had a not so positive experience.
I was at Sage very recently and did try some new menu items. The Kobe Carpaccio was more like tar tare and so overloaded with truffle oil that it was almost inedible. Also, the Cauliflower Crema tasted like it was doused with lemon pledge. I realize Mr Susi is attempting to be creative, but being creative to please his patrons or being creative to woo the media foodies?
I know the rents are high in this area and Susi needs to make a living. I do not mind paying for a great meal. I simply did not find it here on this night at this price point. Perhaps I shall try again.

I saw the wines you speak of(better deals). They are not too expensive, but why should one have to choose an esoteric wine that may not be the most pleasing to the palate,cant one choose a wine one knows and has had prior without being robbed on the price.
Lastly, Of course there are differences in Caffe Umbra and Sage. To me they are both Italian restaurantscompeting for an ever shrinking consumer base due to an increasing restaurant base. We can agree to disagree.

[MC Slim JB]

Yes, le difference in opinions is one reason this board is so useful.

Half of Caffe Umbra's menu was French, not Italian, which is why I objected to your characterization of Sage as a clone of Umbra.

I think your comment about "media foodies" is odd, too. Who succeeds in the restaurant business by only cultivating the media? Restaurants live and die on repeat business: food writers can't make or break them, at least not in Boston. Part of the reason Sage is doing well is that Susi's fans have followed him from the North End, where he had a successful run of ten years or so. He's still following the North End Sage formula of later years (his early-years menu was more eclectic, pretty non-Italian). I don't think he has suddenly veered into "weirdness for its own sake" territory.

Much of his food isn't even especially non-traditional -- he's just tweaking Italian tradition (pork instead of the more-common beef braciole) with better ingredients and prettier plating. (Okay, polpetti made with spinach and ricotta, no meat at all, is a little out there, but those "meat"balls are really delicious, have a lovely texture, and the chunky rabbit ragout they sit on is even better. That's a great appetizer.)

I guess I also don't understand the "esoteric" comment: do you find Spanish wines that unusual or unpleasing to the palate? My general observation about wine pricing in Boston is that it penalizes patrons who aren't willing to break away from familiar American (and to a lesser extent, French) wines. That's where I see the swindles on the Sage list: Cali zins and cabs and chards, just like on every other wine list in town. (That's one of my problems with Union Bar & Grill's wine list: far too many cliche American wines, predictably overpriced.) Once you get away from the States, I think a lot of Sage's wines are pretty fairly priced.

Maybe you've just had bad luck ordering. I haven't tried either of the dishes you had and disliked. (I'm kind of sick of seeing Kobe everywhere, when most dishes based on it underwhelm me at stupid prices.)

[stillworkinonthat]

By the term "media foodies" think Food Channel. I think we are seeing in Boston today an ever more pressured celebrity chef, movie star wanna be. Think Emeril, Rachel, iron chef, etc. There are some cooks in the small naive Boston restaurant scene who really want to be the next movie star chef. I will not mention any names as to avoid embarrassment.

I feel that a bit at Sage and others. Not that Susi is not competent and passionate about his food, but more that he may feel the need to preform or as you call it be "creative"

And yes enough of the Kobe beef and Truffle oil is so 90's.

[Bob Dobalina]

Speaking of Kobe - I have never had it, don't really jones so much for beef, and never really saw the point of paying that much for it - Could it really be that good?

But MC and others, perhaps you'd know:

If the meat is from Japan, how does it get to Boston - is it frozen first? Vac-u-sealed? Is a fresh supply flown in regularly? If so, a huge carbon footprint and either way, another reason not to order it.

[MC Slim JB]

Just a guess, but I'll speculate that the majority of Kobe beef served in Boston restaurants is actually "Kobe style" beef, Wagyu cattle raised in the US using methods similar to those used on Japanese Wagyu in Hyōgo: a special diet that includes beer, daily massage, etc.

I think KO Prime's Wagyu strip is flown in from Japan, perhaps explaining its $30/oz price. (I've heard, don't know if it's true, that much of the other meat they serve is really choice grade, not prime.)

[stillworkinonthat]

It it says "Kobe beef" it has to be Real from Japan.

[MC Slim JB]

Are you aware of some federal or Massachusetts law that says the term "Kobe" must mean Japanese Kobe beef?

I have two issues with this contention:

One, the amount of genuine Kobe beef produced annually couldn't possibly support the proliferation of so-called Kobe beef dishes on American menus. You see it everywhere, even in damnable chain restaurants.

Two, even if this is there is such a law, I take many things I see on restaurant menus with a big grain of salt, like "housemade desserts". Having a law on the books that says you can only call it Kobe if it comes from Japan, and a menu that calls it Kobe, doesn't necessarily make what's in front of you genuine Kobe.

But I don't really know the truth of the matter.

[Bob Dobalina]

MC and others: Anyone care to comment on whether any Boston-area preparations are worth the price, in their opinion? If so, what are the differences in taste between that and a "regular" piece of beef from the same houses?

[MC Slim JB]

I've sampled plenty of American Wagyu, and I have to say it hasn't impressed the heck out of me. Tender, well-marbled? Yes. Worth a 30-50% premium over other cattle breeds? Not so much. However, most American Wagyu rates very poorly on the scale used to rate genuine Kobe. There's also a lot of Kobe counterfeiting out there, shady suppliers touting non-Kobe beef as the real thing.

I think I've sampled the real thing in very small quantities a couple of times at high-end Japanese restaurants here: Oishii Chestnut Hill and Uni, if memory serves. It's lovely (I have a better impression of it than some, who compare it to eating beef-flavored fat), but I don't think I want to pay $180 for a six-ounce portion of it.

[hotoynoodle]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/maga...

this was a very interesting article in the globe not long ago. most scathing remark in it was cities get the restaurants they deserve. i think it's ridiculous how many places offer *kobe* (genuine or not) for $30+ an ounce.

[MC Slim JB]

There's a long, discursive thread on that Boston Globe Magazine article over on the Food Media board: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/441757