Folks in LA’s Echo Park neighborhood have packed into the first Sage Bistro location – whether for a healthy brunch or late afternoon vegan ice cream break – for years. And now, Sage’s beer garden and bistro in Culver City is blowing the minds of Westsiders too. Part of the newest breed of healthy restaurant in LA, Sage takes it’s design esthetic seriously and hosts its vegan, gluten-free or just plain healthy diners in style. We couldn’t be more thrilled about this design-oriented trend in organic eateries and are loving Sage’s glossy, urban-feeling environment to enjoy our hippy-happy foods.
Sage is truly pushing the envelope when it comes to vegan and gluten-free food that tastes as great as it makes you feel. We’re dying over a few of these notable Sage Bistro dishes – gather a hungry gaggle of friends and start ordering up these killer plates. You won’t believe it took you so long to discover cauliflower wings and squash tacos…
Gluten-free Pretzels
We’re not gluten-intolerant ourselves. But if we were, these soft pretzels would almost definitely be the best thing that ever happened to us. Pretzels aren’t really our thing – but then again, we’d never tried Sage’s fresh-baked, soft and perfectly salty version. We’re incredulous that these puppies are gluten-free, and have been spreading the word to every gluten-free friend we can find! The best gluten-free carbs we’ve ever tried.
Clean Green Kind Creme
Sage’s own vegan ice cream, Kind Creme, is blowing our minds with their coconut-based frozen dessert. Their Superfood flavor is the food of our dreams: filled with adaptogens and – get this – seaweed, this stuff still tastes like real-deal ice cream. Pinch us if we’re dreaming.
Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
No, really. Could these be the best faux junk food we’ve ever had? These spicy ‘wings’ are made entirely from cauliflower and will still make the most carniverous of lunch dates happy as can be. The cauliflower has a surprisingly satisfying texture in this dish and we gobbled up a plateful in mere minutes. We just wish they’d serve them up at sports bars everywhere!
Dreamy Green Smoothie
The folks at Sage were not kidding when they named this simply sippable green concoction: it’s dreamy. A blend of almond milk, kale, avocado, dates, and raw vanilla, we’re yet to find a smoother, more swoon-worthy smoothie than this one. Plus, it’s filling: we remained full-bellied yet light on our feet through a full morning of farmers markets and swap meets. Whether you’re looking to drink your breakfast or sip your snack, this smoothie will keep you satisfied any time of day.
Chia French Toast
A new twist on an old standby, this french toast is anything but ordinary. Encrusted with coconut, granola and chia seeds, three pieces of bread are pan-fried, topped with bananas and strawberries and served with maple syrup and Earth Balance on the side – so you can smother those slices to your heart’s delight. We spied at least three-quarters of the restaurant’s crowd brunching on these babies, so you know they’re a fan favorite.
Goatless Greek Quinoa Kale Salad
This is not your mother’s Greek salad. Yes, it contains the basics of greens (massaged kale!), tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and kalamata olives…but we’ve realized that Sage doesn’t ever really settle for “basic.” Their creative take on this salad plate staple includes quinoa, spicy cabbage, apple and avocado all chopped up and topped with raw dill cheese and cashew alfredo. Hearty enough to act as your main course but refreshing enough to avoid the lunchtime energy crash, this salad tops our list when it comes to turning an old classic into a new staple.
Butternut Squash Tacos
Butternut squash, kale, and caramelized onions topped with cashew nacho cheese in a taco shell. Our favorite winter squash, our favorite green, and our favorite way to cook almost anything, all smothered in vegan cheese and wrapped up in our favorite Mexican restaurant staple. Need we say more?
"Mozzarella" Sticks
We had to do a double take when we learned what this vegan appetizer was really all about. These batter-encrusted beauties are not filled with real mozzarrella, of course – but not made with cashew cheese, either. Soy? Nope. Rice milk cultures? Guess again. These mozzarella sticks are made with…drumroll, please…full sticks of hearts of palm. Hearts. Of. Palm. We know, our hearts just skipped a beat as well.
Sage Organic Vegan Bistro is located at 4130 Sepulveda Blvd in Culver City, CA. For more information, visit www.sageveganbistro.com
