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Hello everyone!

We've noticed that when the weather is nasty and business is slow, Chef Paul starts to fantasize about exotic climates. This week his thoughts are traveling the aromatic streets of Syria and Lebanon, where the ring of mortar against pestle awakens one in the morning and lulls one to sleep in the afternoon. What they are pounding is lamb, fine cracked wheat and grated onion to make a dish called kibbeh.

"I know of no other dish whose preparation is enveloped by such a mystique," writes Claudia Roden in "A Book of Middle Eastern Food.
"Some women are known to have a special 'hand' or 'finger' for making kibbeh. This knack is envied by other women and especially by their husbands. One is said to be favored by the gods if one is born with a long finger, which makes the shaping of the kibbeh easier."

There are countless variation of this meatball, which can be served grilled, fried, baked or even raw. Chef Paul has combined the thoughts behind two different Lebanese specialties, Kibbeh and kofta, to come up with the dish he plans to offer as the Pink Plate Special. Kofta have a coarser grind than kibbeh but are far larger (bigger than a baseball or an orange) than the balls that Paul intends to make.

Paul plans to mix mutton from Elihu Farm with rice and light aromatic spices, fry the balls and then braise them in stock and red wine with saffron, tomato, pine nuts and raisins and perhaps a little preserved lemon. He'll serve them with couscous.

The Pink Plate is a weekly prix fixe special we offer on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Pink Plate is a $32 per person three-course special, including your choice of soup or salad, the featured entree, two selections from our cheese board or one of a couple of featured desserts and coffee, tea or espresso.

We've started booking Valentine's Day, Thursday Feb. 14, and we thought we'd give you a brief outline of what we have planned. We'll be offering an elegant, five-course, $75 per person prix fixe menu, replete with oysters, chocolate, foie gras and all of the other most romantic foods in the world.

Skidmore graduation weekend has also started to book heavily. We'll be offering an elegant, four-course, $70 per person prix fixe menu, and will be serving the Friday of Skidmore Graduation weekend from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. by reservation. On the Saturday, we will extend brunch to 3:30 pm. and start serving the prix fixe dinner at 5:30.

The verb croquer means to crunch, but we're not sure why there are grilled ham and cheese sandwiches called croque monsieur and croque madame. The feminine aspect of this bistro treat includes a fried egg dropped on top of the grilled ham and cheese, which makes it an awesome brunch specialty. We'll be offering it this Saturday and Sunday for brunch. We suspect that croque monsieur is lowbrow French humor for the wham, bam, thank you ma'am origins of the dish. This has long been aa desired snack for French blue-collar workers who needed something quick and easy to scarf down with their beer and wine during their break. There is a theory that before the advent of refrigerators, coolers and insulated lunchboxes, workers would set their sandwiches next to a radiator to bring them to a temperature unlikely to breed dangerous bacteria. The cheese melted, and a popular snack was born. The sandwiches began to appear in Parisian cafés in 1910 and were immortalized by Proust in 1918 in "À La Recherche du Temps Perdu."

The croque will be part of the fun and elegant à la carte brunch we offer on Saturday and Sunday. Our artist-in-residence, jazz pianist Cole Broderick, plays the baby grand piano from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sunday

The brunch menu this Saturday and Sunday will feature croque madame ($15); smoked salmon eggs Benedict ($15); cinnamon banana-stuffed pancake with your choice of bacon or sausage ($13) and Asian chicken salad over rice vermicelli ($14). Appetizer specials include a crabcake with lemon caper mayonnaise ($16); a salad of mixed baby greens tossed in a red wine vinaigrette ($7); Rhode Island Littleneck clams steam in white wine with herbs ($13) and soup of the day ($8).

The brunch specials run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The complete menu,
offered from 7 to 2 p.m., includes a Continental assortment of
muffins, pastries, fruit, yogurt, frittata etcetera for $9;
omelettes ($10 to $12); pancakes du jour ($10); the All in One, which includes 2 eggs any style, homefries, toast and sausage or bacon ($10); waffles with sweet cream butter and local maple syrup ($10); and Irish steel-cut oatmeal ($8).

Cole also plays the baby grand Tuesday and Friday night (barring special events that preclude live music.) Cole, who won a Billboard Critic's Choice Award for his 4-CD set of jazz compositions: "Seasons in Saratoga," recently released his seventh CD "Chez Sophie Jazz."
This is the first time he's recorded with a vocalist. (The singer is Cheryl Clark, co-owner of Chez Sophie, wife of Chef Paul, mother of the adorable Nico and Léo.) Some of the cuts of the CD can be heard at http://www.chezsophie.com/.
Copies are for sale for $16 at Chez Sophie and through Cole's secure PayPal-friendly website at http://www.colebroderick.com/sound-7.htm
We can also mail-order the CD's for an additional $4 shipping and handling.

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 at an additional charge or you can order from our extensive wine list.
Cost: $80 to $200 per person for seven courses, 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: Depends on the number of courses and the wines selected; available for two to 75 guests. Call Cheryl to make arrangements at
518.583.3538

The Pink Plate Special
offered Monday, January 14, Tuesday, January 15, Wednesday, January
16 and Thursday, January 17

$32 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:
lamb meatballs (kofta/kibbeh) with couscous

Notes on Nico and Léo:
Léo, who will be 2 next week, was sitting in the carseat the other day and Nico, sotto voce, announced that his little sister can count to 20. "Let's hear it," Mom said. Léo made it flawlessly to 20, then started with 21, 22, 23... until reaching 29. Then she looked at her brother for confirmation. "Thirty," Nico prompted, and they continued to 60 before Léo got bored.
"My sister can do all the numbers," Nico assured his Mother. "She just needs some help with the switchy ones."

The Parker family
at Chez Sophie
518.583.3538

Chez Sophie was founded in 1969 by sculptor Joseph Parker and his French-born wife, the late Sophie. The business moved to a vintage stainless steel diner in Malta Ridge, New York, in 1995. It is owned today by Sophie and Joseph's son, Paul Parker, and his wife, Cheryl Clark. In June of 2006, they moved the restaurant into their current location in The Saratoga Hotel on Broadway..

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P.S. Each month we draw a name at random from our database of customers and send them a $50 gift certificate to Chez Sophie. If you would like to be added to this promotions database, which is owned by Chez Sophie, please send us an email with your name, address, telephone number, birthday and anniversary. People on the list will also receive a gift certificate by mail or email for a free glass of champagne or dessert on their birthdays or anniversaries. (You only need to enter once to be eligible every month.) If you think you are on the list but have not received gift certificates on your special holidays, please contact us with an updated email address. We find that many of the email addresses we have collected over the past few years are no longer valid.

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