Welcome to the middle of the Nevada desert, home to the bright lights and big fun of notorious Las Vegas. With such a liberal attitude to entertainment the city has earned itself the arguably well-deserved title ‘Sin City’, and it features regularly in Hollywood movies with equally relevant scripts. But let’s not dwell on the glitz and hype because under the bright lights is a real city, with real people and real places to go. If you bypass the endless wedding chapels (apologies to all you romantics out there), manoeuvre around the Blackjack tables and wend your way through the sea of slot machines in search of the less obvious side to Vegas, you’ll uncover one of the newest and most exciting restaurants for miles around – and it’s still on the Strip.
Located in Aria, a new hotel complex on Las Vegas Boulevard, Sage is an American diner with a difference. When Chef Shawn McClain moved from Chicago, he brought with him an ethos which involved using only farm-fresh produce, and seafood with truly sustainable sources. Now, perhaps these concepts together are a bit of a novelty for the inhabitants of a desert where water would be scarce were it not for the formidable Hoover Dam but, nevertheless, McClain’s philosophy has certainly taken off.
Opening at 5pm and closing at 11pm (but don’t bother going on a Sunday when it doesn’t open at all), Sage boasts a temptingly written menu which excites the appetite as much as the food itself. With a starter of Maine Lobster Ravioli costing $20, and a New York Strip weighing in at $49, this won’t be the cheapest of the local restaurants, but if you can persuade that part of your conscience which has a firm grasp on your wallet that this farm-fresh food is so good for you that it’s worth every cent, then let go and enjoy the heavenly experience of perfectly cooked, melt-in-the-mouth beef and scrumptiously tasty shellfish.
And just to ensure your niggling conscience doesn’t get the better of you, relax in the chic yet comfortable surroundings and take the edge off with one of their hand-blended cocktails, made with fruit that has received the same VIP treatment as the rest of the produce. This high-roller menu is competing, elbow to elbow, with the best restaurants in the city, so grab a reservation when you arrive and make plans to savour some of the best food in town.
Written by: Fiona Galloway, Editor
