Chef Ian Whitcomb’s camera roll is filled with food, from carrots freshly dug up from the soil to a perfectly plated dessert prepared by his wife, Stacy, who co-owns their business, Pensacola Catering.
Farm-to-table is more than a trend to Whitcomb; it’s an ever-present obsession with finding the freshest in-season ingredients. He deals in ingredients that can be served simply and done need to ne doctored up to taste good. In Whitcomb’s hands, a farmers squash harvest can be given new life as a velouté, serving as a rich, velvety blanket under a seared airline chicken breast.
The Whitcombs’ passion for good food led them to launch Pensacola Catering in 2024, and as they dove into the world of weddings and private events, they created a wildly popular pop-up restaurant concept called Sage In Bloom, which took them back to the roots of it all: small settings, intentionally-sourced ingredients.
Now they are expanding that concept into a brick-and-mortar location at Savoy Marketplace at 502 W. Wright St.
Sage In Bloom is born
Sage In Bloom became a passion project stemming from Pensacola Catering, open to the public and focused on fixed-price dinners, typically four courses for $40.
The Whitcombs would create special, complete and unique menus, typically for Monday meals, a common night off for the service industry so their peers were able to attend. An offer many took up.
“We would invite the ranchers, or farmers, or whoever we were highlighting to guest host with us, and just create a four-course menu around whatever they had to offer, and keep that the theme, and try to make it approachable in price, and user-friendly, so to speak,” Ian said.
Even some of their toughest critics, like a Sicilian nonna who attended on Bolognese night, were won over by their renditions. So much so, her family ended up hiring them to cook for her 83rd birthday after her rave reviews.
Now, the Whitcombs plan to capture all the magic from their pop-up dinners at their permanent home in Savoy Marketplace.
The quality of food and service will still be top tier, and they plan to make it a “white tablecloth” experience no matter the price point of their meal.
In addition to their full daily lunch and dinner menu, they’ll also offer multi-course tasting menus at their bar, where guests can enjoy a curated experience from start to finish.
While they will continue to offer off-site opportunities, their brick-and-mortar spot will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
What will be on the menu at Savoy Marketplace’s location?
In signature Sage In Bloom fashion, they will be regularly changing their menus around seasonal inspiration.
While the menu will rotate frequently, there will be a variety of staple items, such as their signature Texas Caesar, a mix of cornbread croutons, romaine and cotija, and a roasted poblano Caesar dressing.
You’ll also find some of his signature flavors infused, such as his homemade mole, which will most definitely have a permanent place on the menu.
“Stuff with the Texan influence, a little bit of Oaxacan influence, a little bit of Argentine,” he said.
Stacy enriches his menu with tableside flaming Alaska, rich chocolate almond cakes and bay leaf crème brulee.
“We could put four courses in front of people, just my best work, and then finish with her dessert. No one’s going to talk about anything but her dessert,” Whitcomb said.
The two are excited to be part of a much larger project at Savoy Marketplace, which will soon also be home to Sweet Blessings, Lamonte Gelato, Great Harvest Bread Company, and more.
Savoy Marketplace felt like a perfect fit, as they can still create a small, intimate dining experience with the hospitality they’re known for in a brick-and-mortar location where customers can regularly find them.
“You can see in the space here, there’s really only room for three of us at a time. So we get to keep the quality, we get to show the personal hospitality, we get to do more than provide just a food service,” Whitcomb said. “We want this to feel like a supper club.”
Ian Whitcomb has deep culinary roots
Whitcomb has been working in restaurants since he was 13 years old, going on to earn his bachelor’s degree in culinary management.
“As far as culinary training, there are sort of two schools of thought: either go to culinary school and start there or get your butt kicked by your chefs. I went the latter route.”
Moving up the ladder and eventually becoming a sommelier, Richardson saw the inner workings of chefs’ minds and wrote their award-winning wine lists.
Eventually, he began hosting private dinners, and, as friends do, they praised his cooking, encouraging him to open his own business. But their affirmation ultimately changed the course of the Whitcombs’ lives.
“It came to the point where we thought, ‘They’re not just being nice. They’re not just saying that ‘cause they’re friends, and maybe we should do this,’” Ian recalls. “So, we started our catering company, Pensacola Catering, back in 2024 in September, and the first year was tremendous.”
In a way, the Savoy Marketplace location is like going back to their roots.
“We wanted to do something like that kind of got us into it, with the dinner parties and whatnot, and work as close as we possibly could with local farmers and ranchers and gardeners,” he said. “They were telling us, ‘I’ve been waiting for someone to ask, some chef to work with.’ So we’ve developed some great relationships. That turned into Sage In Bloom, our little supper club.”
Not only was the food fresher, but the practice was also more sustainable.
“Of course, seasonality challenges a chef. If you limit yourself by that and only cook what is being grown and not force things, also a much greener practice. So there is an accountability to those who provide food to the community on a grand scale,” Ian said. “You have to look at your impact, and you have to support local and these are ideas that 50 years ago, that’s just how people ate. We didn’t get what we wanted all the time….it’s just really about appreciating what’s around us.”
Sage In Bloom will have a permanent home from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday starting early this summer.
For real-time updates and information, follow Pensacola Catering & Sage In Bloom on social media.
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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Sage In Bloom bringing farm-to-table dining to Belmont-DeVilliers
Reporting by Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
