Jen and I were on the prowl for some late night dinner options, and through the audible rumble of my stomach, discussed our options for the evening. We decided to give Fire&Sage at the Metro Center Marriott a shot.  The restaurant is outfitted with modern decor, vibrant colors, and enough hotel patrons in bunny slippers to make you wonder if you’ve come a bit overdressed.  The attire is definitely on the casual side, which was perfect for us, as neither of us really wanted to throw on the evening gown or tuxedo.  Especially since my only evening gown was ruined at prom anyways.  But that’s an entirely different blog post.  The restaurant does have some of the most comfortable leather seats either of us have ever sat in at a restaurant.  Those chairs were probably stolen from a personal library containing many leather bound books and a crackling fireplace.

The menu doesn’t really break any ground in bleeding edge cooking techniques, but there are a ton of comfort food options that are executed pretty well.  We started by splitting the Baked Chevre (said with the same slight spitting and pronouncing fumble you would saying Brett Favfffrffe…ffe) that is essential a log of baked Goat Cheese gently wading in a pool of olive oil, with a poolside of crispy buttered french loaf slices for you to toss in like innertubes.  Super tasty, but also a bit heavy on the fats.

Baked Charvvvvvrffffre

Jen and I also each ordered a flatbread.  She got the Wild Mushroom, topped with shiitake, portobello, cremini and a good dose of shaved parmesan, which she liked.  I ordered the Calabrese, topped with calabrese sausage, sun dried tomatoes, arugula and buffalo mozzarella.  The cooks pile on the ingredients, but they don’t overwhelm you with the proportions, which is really good.  I thought the Calabrese was a bit too salty with the combination of the sausage and sun dried tomatoes, but that’s not to say I didn’t really enjoy it.

The service here, at least with our server, was fantastic.  He was on it-on it for the entire evening.  I never had an empty drink, and we never had a plate brought to us that wasn’t given served without a healthy side of genuine enthusiasm.  You’d think we were eating at the world’s most expensive bistro with his unrelenting ebullience.

The big driver for us to visit Fire&Sage, though, was one dessert that really spoke to the both of us.

Seriously?  A hot bag O’ doughnuts?  HOW COULD I LOSE?  The menu mentioned something about honey butter and strawberry compote, but a steamy bag o’ doughnuts was too tempting to resist.  The waiter, Jebus bless his soul, even wafted the donuts in Jen’s general direction, and offered to bring a small dipping bowl of molten chocolate to us.  Good thing he did, because unfortunately, that was the only thing that saved this dish.  The deep fried balls of dough served in a waxed bag fell flat of our expectations.  They were a bit too fried, lacking the soft texture or sweetness that I was envisioning.  The honey butter was also a bit bland, and the strawberry compote was entirely too tart for either of us.

Bag O' Doughnuts with Honey Butter and Strawberry Compote

Great in theory, a little lacking in execution.

So here’s the verdict.  Dinner at Fire&Sage?  Next time, I’d pass.  Lunch at Fire&Sage if you’re looking for a good option near Metro Center?  Definitely.  The food is pretty good, the prices are reasonable, and the Larry David lookalike waiters are great!  Just skip the Hot Bag O’ Deepfriedness when you go.

Don't cry Brett. I promise Bambi's Mom isn't really dead. Hey, let's go to Beef Jerky Unlimited and get you a nice bag of treats.

View a map of Fire&Sage here.

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