Sage Restaurant Group, the Denver-based independent restaurant group dedicated to providing innovative, playful, and locally focused food and beverage experiences, is bringing additional support to the corporate office as the company continues to grow nationally.

With the success of SRG’s Urban Farmer Steakhouse concept—locally tailored for the Portland, Cleveland, and Philadelphia markets—former General Manager Troy Christian is now responsible for upholding operational and brand standards for existing and forthcoming Urban Farmer locations. This includes sourcing premiere local vendor partners, cultivating professional development for the managerial staff at each property, and maintaining the brand’s relevancy in each market. 

“In my four-and-a-half years working with SRG at all three of its Urban Farmer locations, I have grown quite familiar with the brand and its community-oriented ethos,” says Christian. “Though similar, each Urban Farmer Restaurant uniquely represents the culture and tastes of its city, and I look forward to maintaining the quality Urban Farmer diners have come to expect at each property.” 

SRG also promotes Jessica Werner, originally brought on in January 2015 to oversee growth operations, to Vice President of Feasibility, New Business & Transitions. Werner will work closely with SRG Co-Founder, Peter Karpinski, to ensure the smooth development and implementation of every new location added to SRG’s expanding portfolio of restaurants nationwide.

With growth comes the need for additional asset management support, for which SRG hires Gourav Patel as the Divisional Vice President of Finance Operations. In this role, Patel will assist the SVP of Finance in maximizing asset value and returns on investment across an assigned portfolio of SRG restaurants. Patel comes to SRG with years of experience managing financial operations at restaurant groups, most recently with Innovative Dining Group out of West Hollywood, CA. His new role with SRG speaks to the company’s dedication to providing proactive support to the senior restaurant teams at each property.

“This is an exciting time of growth for SRG,“ Karpinski says. “Procuring top industry talent for key leadership positions allows us to grow as a company while proactively providing support to our restaurant teams at each property. Troy, Jessica, and Gourav bring impressive industry experience to each role and we are thrilled to have them on our corporate team.”