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New & Notable: Chasing Sage and Brasserie La Banque’s speakeasy boîte, Bar Vauté

New & Notable: Chasing Sage and Brasserie La Banque’s speakeasy boîte, Bar Vauté
October 2021

Our taste-and-tell guide to some of the latest and most noteworthy F&B offerings



Chasing Sage

After months of pop-ups and serving takeout, Chasing Sage finally flung open its doors on Rutledge Avenue this summer, and locals ran headlong to embrace it. They’re going for all things fresh and well-fashioned, from the vegetable-forward, highly stylized dishes by chefs Walter Edward and Forrest Brunton to the wines served from the center of the dining room and the bright cocktails. The menu shifts daily (keep an eye out for the tilefish and 48-hour short rib) in the light-filled space with natural wood textures. It’s as inviting as we imagine the air must be on the family farm in Smoaks, South Carolina, where the array of vegetables that make their way into tarts, terrines, and various accoutrements are grown. A mere block from the Crosstown, this restaurant feels like anything but rush hour, and instead a watercolor study on the bounty of the Lowcountry, from field to fishing lines. chasingsagerestaurant.com

The crepe cake with strawberry compote and sumac sugar and Calvados-based old-fashioned with an allspice dram at Brasserie La Banque’s underground boîte, Bar Vauté

Bar Vauté

Tucked beneath the much-anticipated Brasserie La Banque at 1 Broad is its secluded boîte, a craft cocktail spot that speakeasy dreams are made of. The only way into this “bar below the street” is through a door on East Bay. Follow the stairs down, where there’s no password needed, just a willingness to settle into a bar seat or cozy cafe table for a good time. Enjoy an abbreviated upstairs menu from chef Jeb Aldrich; a caviar service that stands up to any in the city; and balanced cocktails, including a lovely version of a Vieux Carré, a fitting sip within historic 18th-century walls echoing with the ghosts of taverns past. brasserielabanque.com