Sage Plant Based Bistro - Culver City

I can sum up my experience at Sage in a single word: cauliflower. 

It sounds boring; it is anything but. A lot of thought and a little bit of whimsy went into this cuisine, and it all starts with the Cauliflower Wings. 

I can't help but giggle when my appetizer hits the table. I smell the acid of buffalo, and somehow they make these slices of shrubs look like wings at a quick glance. The sauce is a stand-out, and the firm-yet-forgiving texture of the cauliflower works it, rather than merely making it work. 

The last thing I want after a plate of cauliflower is another plate of cauliflower, but I am wrong. The Orange Chicken is quite impressive, the same vegetable in a completely different dish. The sauce is thick and just sticky enough to cling to each individual piece, and there is something about the dense tenderness of cauliflower that it could almost be a softer chicken breast. The sauce errs more toward the side of General Tso than orange, but I cannot object to a hybrid that tastes so good. 

The main is meticulously made, but the sides are a neglected afterthought. After an extraordinary preparation of cauliflower, the last thing I want is a plain side of steamed broccoli and rice, which they don't even bother to salt. 

The Butternut Squash Ravioli regains my respect. It can't be easy to make vegan pasta. Say what you will, but there are no true substitutes for the binding and thickening properties of egg. I admire Sage for their ability to adapt; I think it's brilliant to change the texture of the ravioli rather than resign to serving a soggy, eggless mush. The grill creates a more crispy conviction, a perfect contrast to the soft butternut squash within and the chewy kale beneath. I hate kale, but theirs is sauteed very well, and even I can muster a few enjoyable bites. I do wish those ravioli were less flat, however, as the perky pesto tends to drown out the insufficient squash. 

If nothing else, I have learned that there are many distinct ways to cook cauliflower, but my experience at Sage was much more than that. I love that Sage doesn't try to be something other than what it is. They don't approximate meat, that don't make terrible-tasting fake meat; they just cook their veggies and they cook them very well. Not well  enough to turn me vegan, but definitely well enough to give me a new appreciation for plants.