Anyone been to the Sage Grille in Highwood?

I've read a few reviews, but I don't know anyone who's actually been there. Comments?

Sage Grille
260 green Bay Rd
Highwood, IL 60040
847-433-7005

I ate there once about 4 months ago. I thought that it was good, but for some reason there was nothing about that is calling me back. I think that Bank Lane Bistro in Lake Forest is better for a similar price point. The reviews of Sage Grill have been very positive, and it seems to be doing well, but it is was just not compelling to me, though I am sure that I will go back at some point.

-Will

WillG wrote:I ate there once about 4 months ago. I thought that it was good, but for some reason there was nothing about that is calling me back. I think that Bank Lane Bistro in Lake Forest is better for a similar price point. The reviews of Sage Grill have been very positive, and it seems to be doing well, but it is was just not compelling to me, though I am sure that I will go back at some point.

-Will

I'll echo Will's comments, though it's been longer since my one and only visit. I know chef Darrah gets a lot of positive press and my BOH friends tell me that he can cook but I thought the food was nothing special. I also really disliked our server's style. When I ordered the foie gras appetizer (paired with strawberry, which I ended up not liking), he responded by saying "ooh, that's a luxury ingredient." And I'm pretty sure that he was trying to be genuinely informative with that comment. In any case, the experience was very schticky and the food was just okay.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: I thought the food was nothing special. I also really disliked our server's style.

Had a similiar experience at dinner last night. Appetizers, including a sweet corn risotto, looked promising. Entrees were uninspired and deserts were down right awful. The flourless choc. cake was pulled out of the freezer and served to us frozen. Our server was from another planet--going so far as to refuse to accept a mix of cash and credit cards as payment (two couples wanted to pay cash and 2 wanted to charge) I wound up having to charge the entire meal to accomodate our server who claimed the computer system was not set up to handle a blend of cash and plastic. Sadly Sage Grill is the only restaurant in the world that cant handle this issue.

Too bad because the restaurant is really nice to look at.

Jan and I had dinner last night at Sage Grille as guests of her sister. My feelings on the place are mixed.

First the good part - the food. I started with the charcuterie plate, consisting of Foie Gras Torchon, Duck Rillette, Serrano Ham, and Country Pate. All of these were excellent. I especially liked the duck rillette. Jan started with the roasted beet carpaccio, which she was luke warm on due to the vinaigrette which she didn't quite care for.

For my main course I had the blue cheese burger. It was cooked perfectly medium rare and had a great flavor with onions, spinach and a rosemary reduction. The fries were nice and crispy. Jan's main was the duo of beef consisting of grilled london broil and beef bourguignon. Again she was luke warm on it for no other reason that it was a bit boring. I can't fault the dish for that necessarily, because most main courses based around beef tend to be kind of boring to me these days. That's why I order a lot of lamb and duck. I think others would like the duo of beef however. We skipped on dessert.

Now the bad part - the service. The wait staff was nice and polite. They were just slow as molasses. There were only 5 tables taken in the place when we walked in at about 8:45 and we could see the kitchen staff from the street, because there's a big window outside into the kitchen. The kitchen staff was just hanging out shooting the breeze, so they were clearly unstressed.

It took the server about 15 minutes to take my order for wine. Then it took another 15 minutes for her to take our order. The appetizers, none of which required cooking, didn't show up for another 20 minutes. However, the main courses showed up literally 30 seconds after they took away our appetizer plates, so they had been cooked and stuck under a warming light somewhere. I don't know if they were dragging out the appetizers hoping we would finish our bottle of wine and order another one, but it's the only explanation I can come up with.

Bottom line, it's unlikely I'll be back. I would rather go to Froggy's or Carlos, and the pricing would be the same.