Hello, everyone:

We're all planning our costumes for the Halloween Party on Tuesday.
There are many restaurants that do a big all-night drinking bash on Halloween, but Paul and Cheryl have two small children, which got them to thinking. Since trick-or-treating door-to-door has become such a complicated ordeal (hit a neighborhood full of friends, bundle the kids back into the car seats, drive three blocks, start over) we wondered what people with kids do on Halloween when it falls on a weeknight.

We decided to do a costume party for children on Tuesday night in the private dining room with snacks and games and prizes and other activities. Parents can either come and hang with their kids at the party or have dinner in the dining room or the bar area adjacent to the party room. Our kids get to play, and the parents get to have a cozy meal near the fireplace without feeling guilty about not making sure their kids are having a good time on Halloween. The party starts at 5 p.m. and will go on until everybody leaves. Admission for children is $5.

We are very close to being able to book reservations live, online, through our website. This is through the OpenTable system, and it was actually running for several days this week. (We've finally overcame this week the technological hurdle of an ironclad firewall at the
hotel.) As soon as we got it up and running, the hotel replaced a router and we again found the great wall re-erected. It promises not be as impenetrable a wall as the one President Bush wants to build along the southern border of this country, so we're hoping to be back online either today or Monday.

The guys in the kitchen are in a charcuterie kind of mood this week.
What is charcuterie? The name is derived from the old French "chair"
meaning flesh and "cuit" meaning cooked. Charcuterie in general refers to a variety of meats preserved by boiling, curing, smoking or other methods so they would be available into the depths of winter, when there would not be enough feed available to sustain fresh meat.

Paul and his souschef, Mark Lawrence, are big fans or making their own preserved meats. They love to cure, confit, smoke and otherwise make sure that meat lasts a long time and tastes really interesting.
Paul devised a goose and pheasant liver terrine this week, au raisin with cognac, that is absolutely delicious.

He's planning to make a dish late next week of veal breast stuffed with pâté and some other stuff. We also did the smoked trout, which is not technically charcuterie, but in the zone.

The pair confited duck and made garlic sausage for a traditional cassoulet, a hearty, meaty dish that is perfect for taking off a chill.

Cassoulet is a dish that originated in the Languedoc consisting of white beans and meats cooked in a stewpot with seasonings, then finished with a gratin crust. The name comes from cassole, the word for the glazed earthenware crock traditionally used for the dish.The white beans give the dish creaminess and flavor. Originally, fava beans were used, but after haricot were introduced in France in the 19th century, they became the bean of choice. The choice of meats used in cassoulet varies widely from region to region. Prosper Montagné defined a "Trinity" of cassoulet, with the "Father" coming from Castelnaudary, the "Son" from Carcassone and the "Holy Ghost"
from Toulouse. The Castelnaudary cassoulet, the oldest of the three, features pork (ham, loin, leg and sausage) with a bit of preserved goose. The Carcassone cassoulet features leg of mutton and during hunting season, partridge. The Toulouse cassoulet uses the same ingredients as the Castelnaudary version, but in smaller quantities, with the difference being made up in fresh lard, Toulouse sausage, mutton and duck.
The French being the French, they are forever trying to legislate cassoulet. At a journalistic lunch in 1909, President Fallières, a native of Lot-et-Garonne, had a cassoulet made to his specifications which he later ordered to be put on the menu at the Élysée Palace once a week. This dish is a matter of some controversy and represents sacrilege to some because it includes mutton. In 1966, the États Généraux de la Gastronomie Française decreed that cassoulet must be at least 30 percent pork, mutton or goose and 70 percent beans, stock, fresh pork rinds, herbs and flavorings.
Paul being an American, he plays fast and loose with the rules. He'll put in what tastes good to him that day.

Speaking of being American, Paul has also decided that the Pink Plate Special next week must be meatloaf with veal pork and beef. After all, what is meatloaf? Pâté Americain.

Okay. When is the right time to have a digestif coffee? Paul and Cheryl got an email from a lovely guest this week who loved her meal, but was a little concerned that the young waiter darted off after taking the dessert order without asking about coffee. Surprised to hear this, Cheryl asked the waiter what was up. In total sincerity and bruised innocence, the young man said, 'But it's proper to have the coffee after the dessert!"

This is what we told the customer: the server now acknowledges "that he should have asked if you wanted coffee with the desserts. He, until your helpful constructive criticism, was under the impression that the "proper" order was to have coffee after dessert. I told him that what's "proper" is what the customer prefers, and he won't know what his customers want unless he asks, rather than assuming that all people like to eat their meals in the order that his family likes to eat."

We looked in a bunch of etiquette books and found a lot of conflicting information.

The weird thing is, the hotel had a "secret shopper" who was hired to evaluate the services and amenities of the hotel, and he visited Chez Sophie. The hotel shared his observations with us just to be helpful, and one of the things we were criticized for is serving the coffee with dessert, instead of after.

Last night, we had a party of 23, and when the server took the dessert order, he asked if anyone wanted coffee and most of the people at the table said they'd order later. (A couple of people asked for coffee immediately and got it.) Then the host of the party, who was not in her seat when the waiter made his first coffee run, came to Cheryl and Paul and asked if it would be possible to get some kind of coffee on the table. Cheryl and Paul were both appalled, because they knew the desserts had already been served and feared that the "no coffee until you finish your dessert" thing was metastasizing in the body of our waitstaff. We, and the host, were relieved to learn that coffee had been offered, postponed, and the waiter was headed back to get the rest of the order.

Another funny message that made us feel loved: "I just want to make sure everything is okay at Chez Sophie. I didn't get the newsletter today -- my favorite Friday morning read -- so I went to the website to see if there is anything up. Maybe you are under the weather (hopefully not) or just plain too busy...
Anyway, hopefully there are no disasters going on at Chez Sophie."

Reply: "Today is Thursday."

Below is a list of upcoming events at Chez Sophie, which will be elaborated upon as further details are available. For those of you who have been asking about New Year's Eve, see below for prices and times.

Warm Lake Wine Dinner
November 7 and 8, 6:30 p.,m. each night
These two dinners are limited to 20 people each night around a single table. We will feature the wines of Warm Lake, a New York State winery on the Niagara Escarpment near Lake Ontario. The winemaking, done on a small scale, employs Old World techniques; the pinot noir fruit is triaged, punched down manually and vinified in French oak barrels. The grapes from four different sections of the vineyard are vinified separately, than blended by vintner Michael Von Heckler to make two dinner wines, Warm Lake Estate and Mountain Road.
Our wine dinners will feature a tasting of each of the four component wines and the Estate wine. Then we'll sit down to a warming soup as a palate cleanser and enjoy the Mountain Road with coq au vin. We'll finish with Warm Lake's dessert pinot noir with cheeses and desserts.
http://www.warmlakeestate.com
Cost: $80 per person, plus tax and gratuity

Thanksgiving Dinner
Thursday, November 23
Special prix fixe wine dinner
Limited to 20 people around a communal table, we will be serving up a
five-course heritage breed turkey tasting menu with four spectacular
wines. This is a particularly good option for people who love to dine
well and in a festive setting, but won't be with their families on
our national day of gratitude.
It starts at at 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $100 per person, plus tax and gratuity
Rooms available at The Saratoga at a steep discount for Chez Sophie
ticket holders. ($79 per night.)

Also, turkey dinner will be offered in our main dining room, in
addition to our regular menu from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. It will include
free-range, all-natural local roast turkey and trimmings and pie for
dessert for $35 per person, or your guests may order from our regular
menu. Turkey dinner for children under 12 is $15. A few large tables
still available for family groups.
Call for reservations 518.583.3538

Christmas Eve and Christmas Night Dinner
December 24 and 25
Details to be announced
We will be serving options suitable for families and for gourmands
wishing for a special holiday meal. Rooms available at The Saratoga
at a steep discount for Chez Sophie ticket holders. ($79 per night.)

New Year's Eve at Chez Sophie, 2006
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Our most elegant party of the year

Early seating prix fixe special
Tables available at 5, 5:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m.
Prix fixe five-course menu including options for three of the
courses, with a glass of Champagne included
Cost: $75 per person, plus tax and gratuity

New Year's Eve all night party
Tables available at 8, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m.
Prix-fixe eight-course menu, including options for three of the
courses, midnight Champagne toast included
Jazz Pianist Cole Broderick to play starting at 8 p.m.
Cost: $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity

Special prix fixe wine menu available as well as our full wine list
and bar
Double rooms at The Saratoga available for $199 per night.
Reservations required with credit card confirmation
518.583.3538
Live Piano Jazz
Jazz pianist Cole Broderick plays the baby grand Tuesday through
Friday night, and during Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
(barring special events that preclude live music.)
Cost: No cover charge

Tango Wednesdays
The members of Tango Fusion, a local tango club, gather in our lounge
after their Wednesday night class ends at 8:30 for cocktails, snacks
and dancing. The public is welcome to come hang out at the bar, join
in and pick up a few dance pointers from instructors Diane Lachtrupp
and Johnny Martinez. For more information about local classes by
Diane and Johnny, see the Saratoga Savoy website at http://
www.saratogasavoy.com/files/instructors.html
Cost: No cover charge

Tasting menus
Chef's Choice seven-course tasting menu available each night. The
menus are designed based on the best and most creative dishes Chef
Paul K. Parker is serving each evening. We will pair wines for you or
you can order from our extensive wine list.
Cost: $75 per person, plus tax and tip. Everyone at the table must
partake in the tasting menu.

If you're feeling less impromptu, you can call ahead to arrange a
special tasting menu with the number of courses and wine pairings
designed to suit your capacity, dietary restrictions and budget.
Tasting menus arranged in advance will be printed on commemorative
vellum scrolls personalized with the name of the host or the reason
for the event.
Cost: $50 to $200, depending on the number of courses and the wines
selected; available for two to 75 guests
Call Cheryl to make arrangements 518.583.3538

The Pink Plate Special
offered Monday, October 30, through Thursday, November 2
$30 per person
includes your choice of soup or salad, a special entree, selected
desserts or a cheese course and coffee, tea or espresso.

This week's special entree:
pâté American (meatloaf) with haricots verts (green beans) and mashed
potatoes

Nico and Léo:
Léo is getting thoroughly spoiled by her Grandma from Arkansas,
taking most of her naps on Grandma's warm lap in a rocking chair. It
will be a rude shock when Grandma goes home and Léo is once again
stuck with parents who seldom sit still.

From the mouths of babes: "Nico, what's the smartest thing you did
this week?"
Nico: "I went to the library."