Rutledge Avenue restaurant Chasing Sage will open for takeout only starting on August 4, just a few short months after their planned March opening. Owners Cindy and Walter Edward and Forrest Brunton plan to serve a regularly-changing takeout menu featuring some of their favorite international foods during a series of rotating themed pop-ups.
Executive chefs Walter Edward and Brunton have used the quarantine to reinvent some classic dishes they’ve missed since the start of the pandemic, cooking everything from Moroccan to tacos and ramen. While the group does not yet feel comfortable fully opening due to COVID-19, they did want to offer a fun takeout menu highlighting the chefs’ culinary perspectives.
“The idea of doing something that’s made for the world of COVID but is also fun is really exciting,” Walter said. To start, the chefs will serve a Korean barbecue themed menu titled “We Got Seoul.”
[content-3]”We recently all just made Korean barbecue for Cindy’s birthday, and it was so much fun,” Brunton said. “It’s a type of food that’s hard to find in Charleston proper. It’s such a fun, interactive food and it just struck us as the go-to one to start with.”
Look for bibimbap, duck bulgogi, short rib with kimchi and more on the entirely gluten-free menu. For drinks, Chasing Sage will offer Hite beer, cava and soju flavored with local peaches. The Korean menu, which will be available from August 4-15, will be followed by a trip to France starting on Tuesday August 18.
“We’ll be doing a lot of the classic dishes you might find at affordable, casual French places,” Brunton said. “During the day, we’ll have picnic baskets available with charcuterie, cheese plates and bread. We’re big on bread-making and this will be our first chance to showcase that.”
[content-2] Cindy, who also owns a local online bakery called The Moody Macaron, will be making macarons for the pop-ups, changing flavors every week to go with the theme. This week, look for sesame, green tea and Calamansi lime.
The Edwards and Brunton don’t know when they’ll open up the Chasing Sage dining room. For now, they’re simply welcoming the opportunity to feed hungry customers.
“Once we’re ready to do what Chasing Sage is, we’re going to do it 100 percent,” Walter said. “Forrest and I have cooked all over the world and traveled a lot, and this gives us the opportunity to play around a little bit with carry-out appropriate dinners.”
To place a takeout order from 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, visit chasingsagerestaurant.com.
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