I recently enjoyed a wonderfully delicious meal from one of my favorite restaurants in Tallahassee. I squeaked in one last dinner before I relocated to the Boston area in Massachusetts.
Sage is a little upscale dinner joint and bar offering brunch on Fridays and Saturdays. Sage has always been a pleasant experience each and every time I have had the pleasure of dining there.
The menu changes regularly with the season and availability of ingredients. Using seasonal ingredients is one of my favorite ways to enjoy a meal.
The traditional dining area has minimal decor and a cozy, intimate feeling. There is a fully stocked bar with some seating as well. It is typically busy, and to be on the safe side; I'd recommend making a reservation.
Alright, let us dive into the good stuff.
We began our meal with a half dozen chilled raw oysters with cocktail sauce and a mignonette and the Parisienne Gnocchi with jumbo lump crab, tomato, and a beurre blanc sauce.
The beautiful half dozen briny, cold, and slightly firm oysters were from the bays of Prince Edward Island. Now, I am not an oyster snob, but I generally like to eat them on their own. However, I have been known to enjoy the slippery buggers on a saltine from time to time. If you are one who loves the juxtaposition of a crunchy cracker with your oyster, you'll have to ask for them, as Sage does not offer them up willy-nilly.
Second up, the gnocchi. The aroma wafting from the plate was delectable, and the dish came out piping hot. The fat little dumplings were bathed in a rich buttery sauce with large lumps of sweet crab meat and pan-seared tomatoes. The gnocchi was perfectly cooked and was silky soft but had a slight char on the outside. It was challenging to share this dish.
Next on the menu we shared the caramelized sea scallops and gulf shrimp served with Anson Mills grits, cremini mushroom, tomato, tasso gravy, and scallions (in other words, fancy shrimp and grits), along with the cauliflower gratin with gruyère cheese.
The main dish was quite good. The shrimp and scallops were well cooked, not chewy, which happens so quickly. The sauce the dish is served with was well seasoned and had a subtle acid which played well with the overall richness of the meal. The mushrooms added a pleasant nutty, earthy flavor. The grits, too, were cooked well and were creamy.
My only criticism of the meal was the cauliflower gratin. It was well seasoned, and the gruyère cheese was a tasty choice. However, the cauliflower itself was undercooked. Although, don't get me wrong, I like tender crisp vegetables as much as the next gal; no one wants to be served mush. Only the "tender" part of "tender crisp" was missing. Also, the sauce was loose and watery. Unfortunately, I believe the side dish was put to the side and didn't have enough time in the oven.
Finally, we concluded the meal with dessert. With my pastry and baking background, this is always my favorite course of any meal. My dinner companion ordered a simple but lovely chocolate chip cookie.
The cookie was nothing fancy—crispy on the outside and chewy in the center, tasty cookie.
It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if they spruced it up a bit. Maybe serve it warmed with a chocolate drizzle or possibly with a shooter of ice-cold milk.
I ordered the Mille-Feuille, pronounced "mil-foy," a French pastry with layers of crispy, flaky puff pastry with layers of pastry cream.
In this case, the pastry cream was an "orange blossom mousseline." A mousseline is a pastry cream that is whipped with butter. It is usually light and airy and quite rich. The mille-feuille was served alongside a passionfruit sorbet, and pecan oat crumble.
So, I take issue with this dish and how it was served. The pastry was perfect, crispy, and flaky. The pecan oat crumble paired well with the entire dish, and the sorbet was creamy with a slight tartness, which cut the fatty richness of the mousseline.
You might be asking yourself, "so, what's the problem," well, the dish was served ice cold, straight from the walk-in kind of cold. The cream was hard and tasteless. When I think of orange blossom, I think of a honey-like sweet aroma with a hint of citrus. Unfortunately, there was none of this. That said, I took the dessert home with me and allowed it to warm up a bit. Then the mousseline became soft and creamy, and I could taste a little of the orange blossom. This dessert wasn't a success in my book.
The dinner at Sage was overall delightful. One misstep in the dessert was not enough to throw Sage out on its bum, and it remains a top favorite of mine in Tallahassee.
Beautifully