Our Story
Located in the burgeoning Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood, Chasing Sage is an embodiment of all the things we love and have learned over many years of working in restaurants — genuine hospitality, pristine ingredients, thoughtful cuisine and respect for the land.
Our menu celebrates seasonality centered on locally-grown produce, including that which will be grown on our family’s farm in Smoaks, SC. The flavors are bright and fresh, with carefully sourced vegetables, meat and seafood, and accompanied by a tightly curated beverage and cocktail list.
Chasing Sage was originally slated to open in late March 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic shut down restaurants. Knowing our original concept for the restaurant would not work with the precautions needed during the height of the pandemic, we temporarily pivoted to a rotating series of pop-ups in a takeout-only format. Our culinary travels through Seoul, France, Thailand, Peru and more was a wonderful creative outlet to keep up going until we could open fully.
We are thrilled to bring Chasing Sage’s original concept to life, and have officially opened for dinner service as of June 23, 2021.
WALTER EDWARD | CHEF
Bio
Walter brings a lifetime of experience well beyond his years, having started cooking in his childhood home of Seattle and all over the world. He is an alumnus of James Beard award winners Maria Hines and Jason Wilson’s enterprises in Seattle, along with Michelin-starred restaurants across the globe.Growing up, food played a big part in Walter’s life. At 15, he started working in restaurants, and was immediately hooked. After cooking professionally as a teen, he formalized his credentials by attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. While in his 20s, he gained experience cooking across New York, Philadelphia, Florida, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Beaujolais, and Antwerp.
Walter's culinary personality is distinct and draws heavily from his years spent in the Pacific Northwest, where he was continually inspired by the unparalleled ingredients available. Walter, his wife Cindy, and their good friend Forrest Brunton, have long shared the dream of opening a restaurant where the warmth and hospitality of the South could meet with a pure and distinctly Northwest culinary style. This vision will come to life with Chasing Sage.
CINDY EDWARD | FARMER
Bio
Returning to Charleston is a homecoming of sorts for Cindy, who has Lowcountry roots. She comes from the Smoaks family, who founded a farm 75 miles from Charleston in what is now Smoaks, SC, in the 1700s.The Edward’s return to Charleston is due in part to their quest to revive this ancestral land, which they are currently working to restore to its once-thriving glory. Cindy is hard at work planting produce and herbs to be used at the restaurant. The farm will be a integral important, constantly evolving and progressing part of the menu, story and environment at Chasing Sage.
MAXFIELD CLARKE | GENERAL MANAGER
Bio
Maxfield Clarke grew up in a small town on the north coast of Oregon. His interest in the culinary world began on a family trip to Europe at the age of fifteen, and later while studying philosophy at the University of Oregon, where he began working at a familyowned Italian restaurant. His relationship with food and wine continued to grow and after graduation he decided to stick with cooking. In 2009, he moved to sunny San Diego, where he discovered a love for Japanese cuisine and sake. After spending some time working as a sushi chef, he transitioned to the front of the house as the general manager of Saiko Sake and Sushi Bar, where he helped to create the most comprehensive sake program in San Diego.In 2018, Max and his girlfriend decided to leave everything in Southern California to spend some time traveling and search for the next place to plant their feet. During a three-month road trip across the United States, they stopped in Charleston and quickly fell in love with the local food scene and particular style of southern hospitality. After ending their road trip in Florida, they flew to South America and spent six months living in Lima, Peru, where Max worked at Mérito restaurant, cooking modernist Venezuelan-Peruvian cuisine and learning about exotic local ingredients. The next stop on their adventure was Argentina, where they immersed themselves in the culture and learned about Argentine wine and winemaking techniques. After nearly a year in South America, they returned to the US and made their home in Charleston.
Maxfield’s approach to service is simple: he believes that good food and drink should be served with thoughtful care and consistency, and he hopes to bring something new and fresh to the already vibrant Charleston dining scene with the opening of Chasing Sage.