Branch to Brunch

Once you find it, you’ll be glad you discovered the Sage Garden Café in Frankfort.

The café is a 2-year old addition to a decades old business, Wilson Nurseries, a destination Garden Center which has been growing great plants for nearly 35 years. Even as young as it is, the café has recently undergone a kitchen renovation and has increased seating to keep up with the daily response and to allow for an even fresher, more seasonal menu.

Sage Garden Café was built in the original garden center, which was expanded in 2001 with a larger, modernized garden center and greenhouses.

Repurposing the “old” space became the next step for owner Jennifer Wilson, who considered a florist and a produce market among the possibilities, “but a restaurant was the best fit” she says. “And once I locked in to that idea, the only model for a restaurant here at the nursery was a garden-to-table restaurant. It just made sense and was a natural fit,” she says.

The original idea was to have a fast-service counter where customers ordered and picked up their food for dining in or carry-out, but that changed quickly when the café became such a popular lunchtime destination. Now, the restaurant is full service and when there is a wait for a table, the paging system allow customers to wander through the gardens or shop the nursery to pass time, and receive a text message when their table is ready.

But almost from the start, the kitchen was too small. Wilson decided to close the café in July for muchneeded upgrades and expansion. A new vent, new stove, extra refrigeration— all bring the restaurant up to speed. “There’s a reason people buy commercial equipment,” says Wilson.

When she reopened several weeks ago, there was more indoor and outdoor seating, an outdoor kitchen area where chef Will Preston (formerly of Dudley’s) can smoke turkey and pork, and a menu that focuses more than ever on locally grown food.

“We were doing asparagus quiche year-round,” says Wilson, but local asparagus isn’t available year round. “Now we put quiche on the menus with a vegetable of the day, whether it’s spinach or herbs or mushrooms. The menu is centered on what we have growing right now.”

Many of the menu ingredients come from the nursery itself. All of the sprouts and microgreens that are featured in sandwiches and salads grow in a greenhouse. Cucumbers, too, are greenhouse-grown. And the herbs that are used prolifically, throughout the year and throughout the menu, are grown at the nursery.

“Herbs are a huge deal for us,” says Wilson. “Right now, we have 10 varieties of basil in the garden.” During the growing season, tender herbs like basil, cilantro and dill come from the garden, but those herbs will be grown in the greenhouse for the cool months. Chives, garlic, parsley, thyme, sage, and mints are harvested from the garden even in winter.

Wilson uses local farmers to provide additional ingredients. Ben Abell, who now farms in Jefferson County and worked at Wilson Nurseries as a teenager is providing tomatoes, squash, watermelon and spaghetti and butternut squash for the customer-favorite butternut squash soup.

The wine list includes offerings from Prodigy Vineyards and Winery in nearby Versailles and Smith-Berry Vineyards and Winery in New Castle; Lexington’s West Sixth Brewery and Alltech’s Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co. top the list of local beers.

Many locals and state government workers have established the café as a lunch destination for healthy food and a place to relax. The café’s atmosphere is inviting and soothing. The walls are sage green. Tables from Longwood Antique Woods in Lexington are made of recycled barn siding. Squares of bark mounted on cork hang as wall decorations. Natural light pours in through generous windows.

“Lunch is our bread and butter,” says Wilson. The menu features bistro fare such as soups, salads, sandwiches, panini, quiche, muffins and desserts. While the menu core will remain constant, about a third of the menu will change weekly with what’s seasonal and abundant, says Wilson.

Perhaps the most exciting glimpse at the future of Sage is the addition of a full breakfast service, beginning mid-September. “Some of the recent upgrades in the kitchen were centered around being able to add an amazing breakfast venue for Frankfort residents, commuters and visitors to the Capital. Sage will be opening before 8 am with a breakfast including Eggs Benedict with Weisenberger cornmeal biscuits, local eggs and country ham or stewed local apples with house made granola.

“The connection between the garden and the plate is the focus of the café,” Wilson says. “Fresh from the garden to the fork is what we’re about.”