2017 RH 25: Sage Restaurant Group

This year, Restaurant Hospitality collected the 25 most powerful multiconcept operators across the country, or what we call the RH 25. With this list, there is no ranking. All 25 are powerful, and all 25 are companies to watch. See all concepts >>

HQ: Denver

Leadership: Peter Karpinski, co-founder and chief operating officer

Concepts: 12 restaurants, all adjacent to Sage Hospitality hotel properties, including Mercat a la Planxa, Hello Betty Fish House, Braddock’s, The Corner Office, Second Home Kitchen Bar, Kachina, The Original Dinerant, Departure and Urban Farmer

Group systemwide sales: $118.4 million in fiscal 2016; $125.5 million projected in fiscal 2017

What’s new: Torali Italian-Steak opened in July. The fourth Urban Farmer opened in Denver in August. Emporium Kitchen & Wine Market and the adjacent Bowerbird Coffee will open in Fort Collins, Colo., this year, and in Savannah, Ga., in 2018.

Creating a destination in hotels

Sage Restaurant Group has worked hard to stay at the forefront of hotel dining with innovative concepts, all adjacent to properties owned or operated by Sage Hospitality, a management company for hotel chains.

Sage restaurants handle all hotel food and beverage needs, but they are also designed to stand alone as destinations.

Most are independent concepts, but some brands are multiplying.

Urban Farmer

The fourth Urban Farmer opened in Denver in August, near The Oxford Hotel.

Each “rural chic” Urban Farmer steakhouse has its own personality based on the neighborhood, with menus that tap local ingredients, farms and fisheries.

Later this year, Emporium Kitchen & Wine Market will debut in Fort Collins, Colo., near The Elizabeth Hotel. The restaurant will serve housemade charcuterie; Blue Hill Bay mussels in white wine, herbs, shallots and butter; and wood-grilled spring trout with roasted fennel, clams and saffron broth.

The concept includes a market with wine, artisanal cheese, sandwiches, pizza and deli items.

And a side operation is the whimsical Bowerbird Coffee.

Emporium Kitchen & Market and Bowerbird will also open next year in Savannah, Ga.

In July, Torali Italian-Steak opened at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, with housemade pastas and big cuts of meat.

There’s also an adjacent Torali Bar and an outdoor Rooftop at Torali. An all-day concept called The Café serves specialty coffees, sandwiches and desserts.

Next: Patina Restaurant Group
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