A taste of Sage On The Coast

The first time we reviewed Sage On The Coast, it was the hot new place to go. The parking lot was filled with ostentatious autos and shiny new sports cars. The uproar from the bar could be heard out the door.

Three years later, the cars outside are mostly sport utility vehicles and inside the din has diminished considerably. It could have been that particular evening or it could be that the scene has shifted to Mastro’s. If so, it is due to shift again soon, with the opening of Javier’s Cantina.

Fortunately, Sage has the ingredients to just keep on cookin’ while the “heat” heads hither and yon. Scene or no scene, the food here has always been the primary attraction, along with the striking decor and the lovely garden patio, complete with fireplace when the weather turns cool.

We’ve been writing about small plates, prix fixe menus and locals’ specials, so we decided to try Sage’s new, low-cost tasting menu, available Monday through Wednesday, traditionally slower nights at restaurants. The price for an amuse bouche, two courses and dessert is $35 — with three paired wines, $45. The menu changes frequently.

In the past, tasting menus were five-to-nine courses and were in the $65 to $125 range. There was always a point in the meal where you felt “I can’t eat another bite” and there were still several courses yet to come. Still, you couldn’t resist the impulse to taste each delicious dish. So, you somehow managed to stuff it all in and then slowly roll out of the dining room.

Recently, some restaurants have begun to feature tasting menus that really are prix fixe dinners with few, if any, choices and three or four courses. This is exactly what they are doing now at Sage.

Although we try to eat as little bread as possible before a meal, we simply were unable to stop nibbling on the assortment in Sage’s bread basket. The thin crispy flatbread, lightly sprinkled with baked-on cheese, left a lingering cheddary aftertaste, the flavorful whole grain bread had a lovely texture and the white bread was crusty and dense. All of the above were perfectly suited for dipping in the excellent garlicky hummus with which they were served. The hummus was notable for its lack of greasiness — a low-calorie substitution for butter.

Smoked salmon tartare was the amuse bouche (a little something to stimulate the palate). Served on a Boursin cheese crostini with a hint of chive, the excellent chopped salmon was perky and refreshing with the combination of flavors lingering on the tongue.

Barramundi is definitely the fish of the moment. We had never seen this popular Australian fish on a menu until last year. Now you barely see a menu without it. The name comes from an aboriginal language and means, “large scaled silver fish.” Barramundi’s takeoff must be due in part to the fact that it is “green.” The fish is readily available, hardy and has not been over-fished. The sweet delicate flavor makes it a good substitute for the endangered sea bass.

Lightly sauteed and served on a wild mushroom risotto with a drizzle of pinot noir sauce, the fish itself could have been fresher but the risotto, with a bit of spinach as well as earthy mushrooms, was intensely flavored yet balanced, perhaps the best risotto in recent memory. The buttery red wine sauce added a perfect finish.

The main course was a filet mignon tostada but we requested it served with chicken instead. The chef’s take on this classic began with a small crispy blue corn tortilla, too small we thought to provide the desired crunch for each bite of topping. In addition to the bland chopped chicken breast, a substitution we probably shouldn’t have made, there was cabbage, radish and corn relish for texture and guacamole and creme fraiche for creaminess but we really wanted something spicy to give it heat. The cheddar cheese was hard to detect, as was the guajillo sauce. We longed for more sauce, which would have provided more depth and piquancy.

Mocha roulade was the dessert of the evening. A light chocolate sponge cake was rolled around a filling of even lighter chocolate mousse. Neither provided any serious chocolate flavor. Only the drizzled dark chocolate sauce really satisfied our chocolate craving. On the other hand, the accompanying coffee ice cream was simply maahvelous. It was so buttery and creamy and had such intense flavor that, rather than ice cream flavored with coffee, it tasted like coffee flavored with ice cream. The cake became the side dish for it, instead of the other way around.

We shared one tasting menu and ordered two other dishes, so we could report on as many tastes as possible. One we can highly recommend and one we cannot. The calamari was disappointing. It was barely seasoned, hardly crunchy and very greasy. Mixed in were some fried Asian vegetables that were quite tasty — a good concept, if only the calamari had held its own. Even the nicely spiced aioli with bits of chopped jalapeno couldn’t quite rescue the dish.

So much better was the Mediterranean chopped salad, a melange that included: garbanzos, cheese, ripe olives, chicken, pepperoncini and particularly delicious sopressata (an Italian salami).

It was the lovely vinaigrette, however, that really made the salad special.

Dining out during the week offers a number of pleasures. It’s much easier to get a table, it is almost certainly less noisy — making conversation an enjoyable part of the dining experience. And it can be easier on the pocketbook because of the variety of special menus that are appearing more frequently these days.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Sage On The Coast, (949) 715-7243

WHERE: 7862 E. Coast Hwy., Crystal Cove Shopping Center

WHEN: Mondays through Wednesdays

PRICES: Four-course tasting menu $35, with wine pairings $45

WINE:

Bottles: $26-$375

By the glass: $8-$18

Corkage fee: $20

ELLE HARROW AND TERRY MARKOWITZ owned a la Carte for 20 years and can be reached at themarkos755@yahoo.com.