Saks' restaurant only second in nation

EAST COUNTY — As the Sarasota Saks Fifth Avenue delves into expansion mode, it also is paving the way for a new trend in Saks stores.

The Mall at University Town Center’s Saks location will house only the second in-store, Saks-branded restaurant in the country, Sophie’s.

And Sarasota is excited about the new offering.

Diana MacPhee, executive chef for Sophie’s Sarasota, said excitement for the new restaurant and the Mall at UTC has been overwhelming. She had a 15-minute conversation about Sophie’s recently with a woman in the seafood aisle of Whole Foods.

“People stop me all the time,” MacPhee said. “They’re very excited about it. It’s like a kid on Christmas Eve — everybody from all walks of life. It’s wild. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The first Sophie’s restaurant, which opened in January, is located in Chicago.

Saks also has two non-Sophie’s restaurants in its New York store and one in its Houston store, as well as a cafe in its Beverly Hills, Calif., location.

“Our mission statement is the experience is everything,” Saks Sarasota Marketing Director Sally Schule said. “Sophie’s is an enhancement to the overall shopping experience for the Saks Fifth Avenue customer. It’s exciting to be able to offer a restaurant in the store and to start being part of that creation moving forward.”

Michael Kaufman, president of Centerplate Restaurant Group and its subsidiary, Fifth Dining, which is dedicated exclusively to providing hospitality services to Saks, said the Sarasota location will be a launching point for additional Sophie’s locations.

Saks is scheduled to open another Sophie’s location in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the first quarter.

“We have other possible locations and we’re working through that with Saks now,” Kaufman said, noting Sophie’s restaurants can go into new or existing Saks locations.

Kaufman said the Sophie’s concept is one that touches upon the legacy of Saks, while creating a restaurant that will stand on its own.

“We wanted to create something that people who were not even shopping that day would want to come,” Kaufman said.

Through research and discussion with Saks representatives, Kaufman learned the story of designer Sophie Gimbel, the first American fashion designer to make the cover of Time magazine.

“It was almost too good to be true,” he said. “We used her, as we like to say, as our muse. Our goal was not to create a museum of Sophie. The goal was really to use her as an inspiration.”

The restaurant looks contemporary, but will reflect what’s happening in the food and beverage industry today, by offering lighter meal options and using creative flavor combinations.

“We’re not trying to be, in any sense, a fusion restaurant, but we are interested in different spices and different ingredients that are more seasonal and more local,” Kaufman said.

The restaurant’s kitchen is small, but nearby guests can see into the kitchen through a specially designed linen glass, which allows them to watch chefs in action, but not in detail.

MacPhee has collaborated with Kaufman and Fifth Dining Executive Chef Alexandro Reyes to create the menu. It will feature plenty of seafood options, including crab cakes, and other dishes, like a specialty cheeseburger and one containing Mote Marine caviar, that are tailored to the Sarasota market.

“I love cooking and being part of a collaborative team, so this, for me, is perfect,” MacPhee said.

Sophie’s Sarasota, which will occupy 2,500 square feet on the second level of Saks, will include a bar, general dining and private-dining areas, as well as an outdoor terrace. The indoor space will seat 60 guests, while the terrace will seat about 35 more.

Kaufman said guests should dress appropriately, but the restaurant has no dress code and is not a white tablecloth restaurant.

On the menu
The Sarasota and Chicago Sophie’s locations will share some menu items, but most will be unique to each’s respective market.

On the menu in Chicago, for example, is a $19 kabocha squash risotto, with arrowleaf spinach, parmegiano reggiano, candied pecans and a balsamic glaze and a $27 steak au poivre, with a seared flat iron steak, forest mushrooms, grilled asparagus and a cognac-peppercorn sauce.