Passport formerly Sage on Laurel — Restaurant in Brainerd

So I’ve been here a few times before. Never had any complaints it’s usually on the suggestion of what ever family member I’m meeting. My young daughter thought the food to be too “fancy” so it was never really an option when deciding on a night out to eat. But my partner was in town and I was craving a good salad as the last 2 days my diet had consisted of deep fried ranch dressing and back room bar pizza, and this seemed like a decent place to get one so I gave it a whirl. I’m still baffled on how this place used to be the dingy Blue Ox, known as much for its “Fargo” fame as it was the fact that your shoes sunk into the carpet and made a slight squishing noise as you walked across it. They’ve done a bang-up job at renovating, with gorgeous ceilings and a mural that would probably come to life if the chef gets a little nutmeg-happy with your dessert. Our waitress came and took our drink order. We then heard a crashing noise come from the back and never saw her again. Hope she’s ok. No ambulance sirens so I assume so. But we got a back up one and she was super nice. We started with the meatballs and I got the steak salad and my dining companion had some trouble deciding between a curry bowl and the pot pie. But once he found out that CWR stood for chicken wild rice, he was sold (and I also revoked his Minnesota card immediately). Now, wanting to order somewhat healthy after my few days of debauchery eating, you’d think I would steer clear of something that is described as “bacon fat dressing.” But having a girl math mentality, the word salad automatically cancels out the words bacon fat. And I will say that a salad drizzled in bacon fat is what a salad should be. Kinda wish it was socially acceptable to drizzle bacon fat on anything and everything. Now the pot pie was another story. Not a bad story by any means, just letting you know I’m moving on from my bacon fat obsession. I was lucky enough to get a taste and I must say, I’ve had many a biscuits in my life. I’ve made biscuits. Frozen biscuits, from scratch biscuits. I’ve had greasy diner biscuits, grandmas biscuits, sourdough biscuits, Red Lobster Chedder Bay biscuits, Jason Mathesons State Fair biscuits, all kinds of biscuits. But these, these biscuits are on another level. I’m not sure what the secret ingredient is in these little magic dough dollops, but I could eat them til the sun goes down. Then up. Then back down again. And then make myself feel better by combating it by scarfing down more bacon fat salad. The plan was to stop there, but my dining companion has a medical condition where he can’t leave a restaurant until he sees the dessert menu. I think it may be a condition made up in his head, but I tend to benefit from it so I keep my mouth shut and ride that Munchausen wave. Now, every so often life will throw a flavor combination my way that may seem obvious but I somehow went an embarrassingly good portion of my life not knowing about. One of those is the fusing of blueberry and lemon, which has recently become my newest obsession. Lo and behold, there is was on the menu in cheesecake form. I’m not sure if they had other choices because I didn’t bother looking. Now, it’s hard to describe it in words so I’ll say this: after one bite I said I would marry the chef and bare his children for the sole purpose of eating this cheesecake on a nightly basis. Turns out our waitress was already married to him, and because she was so nice I begrudgingly said I would step aside then but that I would be waiting in the wings. You know, just in case… So needless to say,...

Your wildest dream just came true... An upscale dining experience in Brainerd (yes!) that rivals the best resort restaurants on Gull Lake that is close to home is here. Chef Fred and Owner Sarah invite you into their warm space with artfully minded design for a delicious meal.

The menu is perfectly crafted and is varied, but retains a theme: healthy, fresh ingredients that are crafted into a creation that is original yet familiar. If you like Asian Fusion, Indian, or Thai, Fred will transport you somewhere else with his culinary interpretation. I just had the Korean Rice Bowl (see picture) on what must be my seventh visit. It had me pining for each savory and eclectic bite, the Kimchi dancing the tango with perfectly tender grilled chicken over brown rice with a great reduction sauce. I looked outside to see if I was still on Laurel St...Yup.

Of course, Sage offers traditional Minnesota faves like Walleye, Salmon over green salad, etc. There is absolutely NO WAY you will not find an entree you like. But for you foodies, this menu is punching way above its weight class. Prepare to have a great meal without the resort snobbery and pricing.

The staff are all friendly and helpful. They go out of their way to make sure you feel special. When you come in, it doesn't take 10 minutes to get seated and greeted with menus like some places in town. They are attentive.

Lunch is delicious and a great value with healthy-minded sides like the Rainbow Slaw, which is a taste smorgasbord all on its own. The burgers are delicious but the more adventurous dishes are like nothing you have had in the area. Guaranteed. Try everything on the menu.

The bar is well stocked with local taps and they even have Stonehouse brand coffee. I can't even fit all the upsides into this reveiw! Here's the downside: They are only open until 9 p.m. but as soon as you guys start coming out of the woodwork, I am sure they can adjust accordingly. Don't miss this diamond in the rough in Brainerd. You owe it to yourself to try...

The atmosphere of this place feels like it was just all thrown together in an attempt to see educated, artsy, and hipster. The menu reflects the atmosphere with a small list of entrees that ate widely different flavors and locations, luckily the food saves this place as everything on the menus regardless of origin seemed to taste as if you were in natural setting. My first expiernece was with an overly boisterous waitress who left us without refills or taking our order for 15 minutes, then when she came back she noted we were out od drinks and said she would get us a pitcher...then she was gone for another 10 minutes. We were the only guests at the time aside 2 people at the bar, however there were other staff over their visibly standing around. When she did come back and take our order she proceded to correct me on my pronunciation of "chicken tikka masala." By this point I was upset and would have chalked the night up as a "never again" incident, but then we got our food and let me tell you, the food we had saved the entire expiernece for me. I honestly say you won't find better, classic, fresh flavors in all of central Minnesota; especially in the chicken tikka masala served with fresh warm naan bread. Or in the ribeye panini sandwich. I would surely go through the whole night again for the food. In conclusion, with a little interior redesign and some more expiernce on the staff, the Sage on Laural could become the next best place in Brainerd and have booming business over the summer tourist months. I look forward to watching how this business...