Elizabeth Gunto, staff writer

For a long time, Sage Cafe has been the site for late night study sessions and poetry slams. With its cheap coffee and wonderfully greasy nachos, it has been the destination for many a tired and hungry Warren Wilson student. But in the last two years, it seems that Sage Cafe has been going downhill. It would run out of basics, like coffee and bagels, on a frequent basis, and as coffee shops such as Moments and the two Dripolator locations became more and more popular, Sage was beginning to feel more and more empty.

But things are looking up. Sage Cafe is almost finished being completely renovated, with a new fridge and stove, new bathrooms (anyone who can remember the old one knows how lovely that is), and fancy new space waiting to be filled with studious young people. The Cafe also has new morning hours on weekdays and Saturday. Senior Joe Giambruno is the new student supervisor, and he’s excited about the new Sage Cafe.

Sage Cafe, which is the only place that has food after Gladfelter and Cowpie have closed, minus vending machines, will have a much broader food menu. Giambruno mentions that the cooking crew will be preparing food for Sage. Some treats the crew is looking forward to making are ice cream, panini sandwiches, bagels, and daily soupand salad. The Sage kitchen will now have a blender for smoothies, too. He also points out that Sage is now much bigger and cleaner, and he is looking forward to more events, like the craft night that has been proposed.

Giambruno admits he was frustrated when he worked for Sage Cafe during its dark days. “I was very upset, (I’m) not blaming anybody, but we were out of bagels, coffee and that’s all we served.” When asked if he wanted to quit, Mr. Giambruno responded “I did quit [...] they got me back.”

This year, there are twenty-seven people on the Sage crew, including the baking and cooking crews. Once the renovation is finished, the baking and cooking crews will do their baking and cooking in the Cafe. “It’s been slow, but really good,” Giambruno says. “It needed to change, and it did. (It’s) changing in a good way.”

Sage Cafe is open from 7 to 9 a.m. And 6 to 12 p.m. weekdays and weekends.