RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Sometimes you find jewels in the most unlikely of places.

It is hard to describe Sage restaurant as a discovery, since it is celebrating its 10th anniversary in a week; but for those who have not eaten there, it is a find. Hard to imagine, given the location, that it has survived 10 years.

In the corner of the Eastbluff Shopping Center, it is tucked away, an oasis among the Ralph’s market and other small shops.

The owner and chef of Sage, Rich Mead, named the restaurant after the herb he planted in the garden off the back patio.

Mead, who has a degree in economics, has his restaurant thrive on a simple business principle: word of mouth.

Locals who stumble upon the restaurant tell their friends, and pretty soon people from all over Orange County are coming to try the creative American cuisine.

It’s simply a case of supply and demand. Mead provides unique quality food, and it is exactly what the neighborhood demanded.

It wasn’t long before Sage’s universe extended beyond the boundary of Eastbluff. The success was confirmed when Mead opened a second restaurant, Sage on the Coast in 2004.

Unlike a lot of restaurants, Mead didn’t let the food come to him — he went in search of it.

A supporter of the Santa Monica farmer’s market from his early days, when he opened nearby 17th Street Café, Mead seeks out interesting herbs, spices and vegetables at both the Santa Monica and Irvine farmer’s markets.

“It is a great place to build relationships and get the items I am looking for,” Mead said. “That is where you are going to find the freshest ingredients. I have found some unique things there.”

Mead highlights the markets by hosting a night during which he prepares dishes with ingredients he bought that day. It is a four-course farmer’s market tasting menu taking place on Wednesdays. Mead has expanded it to Monday through Thursday.

The purchases will also find their way into his regular menu. His warm roast beet salad features arugula, beets and horseradish purchased at the market, mixed with goat cheese and walnuts with a beet vinaigrette dressing.

Everything is up for artistic creation by Mead. It can be as simple as a salad that has oven-roasted prosciutto topped on spinach leaves and mixed with goat cheese, grilled red onions, sun dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts.

“Textures are important to me,” Mead said. “I want to create tastes based on a variety of things.”

Mead is a mixture of Asian and European heritages and uses those influences in his food.

A perfect example of that are the appetizers, which include a pepper-seared ahi and grilled Asian barbecue beef short ribs. Another dish I found intriguing was the sweet potato French fries with papaya mustard.

The seafood pizza is another example of a combination of unusual tastes and textures. The pizza is a mix of the traditional and the eclectic. Shrimp, scallops, sun-dried tomato and sweet basil pesto are topped with mozzarella, fontina and Parmesan cheeses.

Another dish I found tempting was the seared dry-pack scallops. They are combined with green beans, kabocha squash, cipolline onions, spinach, shiitake mushrooms, Israeli cous cous, mango chutney vinaigrette, sweet and spicy Thai sauce and crispy prosciutto. The powerful mixture of flavors and textures kept my taste buds busy trying to discern the multitude of ingredients.

There are many more entrees I didn’t get to that I want to, including the balsamic-glazed salmon and the grilled New Zealand lamb chops.

The good news is with 10 years under its belt, I know Sage isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and I will have the joy of making many discoveries.

JOHN REGER is the Pilot’s restaurant critic. His reviews run Thursdays.