February 21, 2003 Student
News
Food
Students Involved in New Restaurant
From the Utah Statesman
(2/19/03)
 John
L. Simpson, a culinary arts teacher at Utah State University,
has recently opened a new restaurant in Smithfield called Blue
Sage.
Blue Sage serves Southwestern style dishes and offers an array
of reasonably priced menu items. The menu includes everything
from smoked salmon quesadillas to garlic roasted tomato soup.
Aside from owning Blue Sage, Simpson also teaches catering
and new world cuisine classes at USU. His catering students
have been able to watch the restaurant develop and even help
with some of the labor.
Through the process, they have gained real-life experience
and have been able to take a glimpse into their future career
possibilities and options.
Schuyler Smith, a sophomore majoring in culinary arts, had
the opportunity to observe the restaurant's stages of development
and also was able to try making some of the dishes himself.
"The food at Blue Sage is amazing," Smith said.
Robert Sanderson, the chef at Blue Sage, said he did a lot
of traveling and research to develop the menu.
"Right now, I am working on a dinner menu, which should
be coming out later," he said. "The lunch menu was
especially fun."
The lunch menu includes veggie burritos, carne burritos, shrimp
burritos, and even the Blue Sage Burrito. The Blue Sage Burrito
includes house-smoked sweet pork layered between beans and rice,
blended together with a mixture of cotija and queso fresco sauce.
Sanderson said that everything at Blue Sage is made to order.
Everything is fresh. They don't serve the typical canned items
that are warmed up once the customers come.
Simpson describes the menu and atmosphere at Blue Sage as unique.
"Blue Sage is eclectic," he said. "Its diversity
and classy style is a gem in Cache Valley."
According to information from the restaurant, Simpson's love
for food and cooking began early in life. While growing up in
Cache Valley, his parents owned and operated a drive-in restaurant
in Hyrum where the McDonald's now stands. His mother also owned
Sydney's Lunch Truck for many years.
Simpson worked in Logan as a cook and also at a restaurant
at the Snowbird Ski Resort. He has studied at the California
Culinary Academy in San Francisco and apprenticed under specialty
chefs in the San Francisco Bay area for 11 years.
He has also worked as a restaurant design consultant in New
Mexico and has opened up his own restaurant and catering company
in California before returning to Cache Valley to stay.
Aside from owning the restaurant, Simpson also owns his own
catering business called Culinary Concepts, which is run out
of the back end of Blue Sage.
Simpson is the executive chef for Culinary Concepts and offers
full-service catering for special occasions such as weddings
and receptions.
They offer delicacies like hand-rolled strawberry crepes topped
with fresh cream and fresh, wildberries, as well as dishes like
honey-glazed ham, chef-carved roast beef and penne pasta with
gorgonzola cheese.
Culinary arts students have also been able to observe the catering
company's success, as well as Blue Sage's, because of the catering
class at USU.
The restaurant welcomes all to come and visit and hopes that
its success will stem primarily from word of mouth.
Blue Sage is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
and on Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is located at 875
S. Main St. in Smithfield, across from Lee's Marketplace.
By Kara Campbell; karalcam@cc.usu.edu
Photo by Ryan Talbot
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