This Sunday, Sage premieres its brunch menu to a Sarasota food environment already riddled with strong brunch options. To stake its claim to a corner of that most exquisite of meals, Chef Covelli and his motley crew brought the same eye for presentation and inspiration to classics like eggs benedict, omelets and French toast, as well as to inventive dishes like a falafel waffle. But the most complex, singular, unfathomable item on the brunch menu comes from the Bloody Mary bar.

The Umami Bloody Mary offers a gaping window into the world of savory cocktails. It begins with a base of dashi made in house. Dashi is a stock frequently used in Japanese cuisine in soups like miso or ramen to add an extra layer of savoriness. A dash of kimchi also makes its way into the cocktail by way of the sliced pickle garnish. When mixed with the suggested dose of Roku gin, which just peeks through the flavor profile, the result is a thinking person’s drink, a drink that requires careful deliberation of its flavors, a drink of profound complexity and panache. Order one towards the end of your meal so that it gets the undivided attention it deserves. If you consider yourself a bloody mary extraordinaire, you'll be able to take advantage of trying three flavor variations of the brunch cocktail, with Umami being one of them, and Verde and Chipotle being the supplemental flavors specially-made for Sage's coming brunch. 

Sage, 1216 1st Street, Sarasota, 941-445-5660, @sagesrq