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Hello, everyone.
If a tomato grows in the forest, can anyone taste it? Yes, we know it's a stupid question, but it's one that arose organically when Chef Paul announced that the Pink Plate Special next week will be "lapin forestière."
"What does that mean when YOU say it?" his wife Cheryl asked cautiously.
"Rabbit with exotic mushrooms and tomatoes," Paul responded.
Cheryl considered carefully before asking: "Do tomatoes grow in the forest?"
"Hey look," Paul said without apology. "It pairs well with the mushrooms. I make it the way my Maman taught me. Essentially, I'm doing it in the Polish style."
Forestière [foh-rehs-TYEHR] is a French term meaning "of the forest,"
referring to dishes (usually poultry, meat or game fowl) garnished with butter-sautéed potatoes or potato balls, bacon or salt pork and wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, morels and porcini.

In spite of this purely woodsy definition, many of the published recipes for lapin forestière do involve tomatoes, even though that particular fruit doesn't grow well in the shade of tall trees. Some of the purist French recipes eschew tomatoes, but they are all written in French, and Cheryl is too tired to attempt a labored schoolgirl translation. Fortunately, the Internet provides us entirely inadequate, and yet highly hilarious automatic translating tools, which produce such delicious results as:

"Rabbit Forest

Peel onions, wash the feet of sand and wash the mushrooms.

In a hot casserole, try to blondir onion incorporating, little by little glass of white wine.
Then brown the pieces of rabbit, add mushrooms after being sliced and chopped parsley.

Add salt and pepper and let simmer for 45 minutes."

So simple, yet so good. And incomprehensible.

The gorgeous rabbit comes from Wanabea Farm, a relatively new operation operated by Bruce Marchegiani in the former livestock auction barn at D&D Farm in Shushan. He started it as a hobby two years ago and has since turned it into a business. He uses all- natural feeds and techniques and cross-breeds giant chinchilla bucks with California and white and red New Zealand does.

The Pink Plate is a weekly prix fixe special we offer on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. For $32 per person, you get 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 know it's officially not December yet, and we've been easing into the holiday mode slowly (unlike most of the retailers in the United
States.) Cole Broderick has been rationing his holiday piano music to no more than one per hour, and then only in an extremely jazzy vein.
Seth Rosner, who stopped in Saturday afternoon to share a printout of a recipe for a cassoulet he enjoyed while visiting Castelnaudary, found Cheryl on top of a 14-foot ladder, attacking a large tree in the courtyard with strings of lights (It attacked her back.) We've added a few shiny silver things in the dining room, and a few splashes of rich red to replace the autumnal oranges and sienas.
We've also been researching the possibilities for traditional, fun holiday menus in different parts of France, and it made us so hungry, we thought we'd share.

This week, we're looking at the kinds of things that families in Provence do.

The Christmas season in Provence starts on December 4, the day of St.
Barbé, when families sprinkle wheat and lentils into shallow dishes of water filled with cotton wool to grow green sprouts to decorate the holiday tables with (straight, strong, green sprouts mean a prosperous year.) The biggest feast day is Christmas Eve, when the Provencaux suffer through the "repas meagre," a "fast" consisting of seven courses, none of which involve meat. (The meal is also referred to, a bit more honestly, as the "gros souper" or big supper.) Three tablecloths are laid overlapping to represent the holy Trinity, and traditional dishes include fried fish, brandade de morue (salt cod pounded with with garlic and oil), snails with chard, celery in pepper sauce, artichokes, stewed eels or octopus, lentils, spinach or pumpkin gratins and whole poached fish with olives. The table is never completely cleared and additional places are set for deceased relatives, angels and the poor.
The youngest and oldest member of the family start a fire in a ceremony called "cacho fio" with a large log from a fruit tree, carried three times around the table or sprinkled three times with a home-made sweet wine (vin cuit). One translation of the common blessing is: "May the log rejoice, for tomorrow is the day of the Christmas bread, may only good enter this house, may the women give birth safely, the goats bring forth kids and the ewes lambs, may there be much wheat and flour and a full vat of wine." A more succinct version is: "Alègre! Alègre! Alègre! Que nostre Segne nous alègre! S’un autre an sian pas mai, moun Dieu fugen pas men!" or "Joy! Joy! Joy! May God bring us joy! And if, in the year to come, we are not more, let us not be less! "

The meal ends with 13 desserts such as hazelnuts and walnuts, dried figs, white and black nougat, quince cheese or crystallized fruit, "oreillettes" (light thin waffles,) mandarin oranges, pears, winter melons, raisins, chocolates, jellies and jams, candied citrus, almond paste candies, suce miel, casse-dents, bûches de noël, yule logs and the pompes à l'huile.

The last is a light, sweet olive oil bread scored on the top with five slits. The slits represent the five fingers of the working person's hand, who throughout the year grows the wheat, crushes the grain and presses the olive oil. The bread is shared with every member of the household, including the animals. Some families break the the loaf over the head of the oldest person at the table, because cutting the bread would cut the friendships. Every step of the way is accompanied by vin cuit and vin frissantes, as well as wines and liqueurs flavored with fruits and herbs.

After this meandering meal, Provence families close enough to civilization don traditional kerchiefs, mobcaps and smocks and participate in a theatrical Nativity play. Then they head to midnight mass. After mass, there is another meal of roasted meats, known as the "repas gras" or fat meal, that starts as late as 2 a.m. and features turkey stuffed with a whole foie gras, roasts and game meats.

By Christmas Day, the fare becomes much simpler and restorative, centering on the simple garlic and herb soup, "l'aigo boulido."

Back at home, Chef Paul is planning to make stollen, a holiday yeast bread dense with dried fruit and nuts, powdered with confectioner's sugar and wrapped with cellophane and pretty ribbons. The breads keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks and work well as a sweet breakfast bread or as a snack item to keep on the sideboard throughout a holiday gathering. To place an order for stollen, call Cheryl at 518.583.3538. You can specify anytime throughout the holidays to pick up your stollen, but you must order it at least seven days before you expect to pick it up. A 1.5 pound loaf is $25, and an enormous 4 pound loaf is $50.
Shipping is available at an additional charge.

If you are trying to figure out how to celebrate Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner next month, Chez Sophie is here to help. We'll be offering a five-course prix-fixe menu featuring fabulous, festive choices, with seatings from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (No à la carte menu will be offered, but there are great choices within each of the courses on the fixed-price menu.) The price will be $75 per person for food, plus beverages, tax and gratuity. Children under 12 eat for $25.

Hotel rooms at The Saratoga will be available to Chez Sophie customers at a steep discount. ($79 per night.)

Chez Sophie holiday gift certificates are available in any denomination, printed on gift cards and mailed to either the recipient or the sender (if you'd prefer to stuff the stocking
yourself.)

If a gift certificate for a specific dollar amount isn't quite right for your needs, you can also have us make up a gift certificate for a specific type of meal, so the value is not quite so blatant. For example, you could have us make up a certificate for "Two Pink Plate Specials," which would entitle your guests to the three-course prix fixe we offer Monday through Thursday, except during track season.
That would be $64, or $80 if you include tax and tip.

You could treat your friends to "Two seven-course chef's choice tasting menus" prepared especially to suit their dietary desires or restrictions, for $160, or $200 if you include tax and gratuity.
You can boost the gift to include wine pairings with a budget set by you. A gift certificate for "Two seven course chef's choice tasting menus with three wines, tax and tip" could be purchased for $280 (or more if you want to offer a larger budget for wine.)

The tasting menus are pretty neat, because unlike some restaurants, we don't come up with a one-size-fits-all menu and offer that and only that. We question our guests when they make their reservations about whether there are any foods they are allergic to or prefer to avoid, and if there are any foods that they are particularly fond of.

We'll personalize their menus with their names and the date, print them on pretty paper, roll them like scrolls and tie them with ribbons. The guests can either follow along so they know what is coming, or enjoy the surprises and wait until the end of the meal to unroll the scroll and see our descriptions of the foods and wines they enjoyed.
We will be happy to design tasting menus throughout the holidays for parties of one to 75.

To get a gift certificate, just call 518.583.3538 to order by phone, or stop into the restaurant to pick one up in person.

We offer a fun and elegant à la carte brunch 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 pan-seared duck breast with red wine and juniper berries ($16); grilled hanger steak with jalapeno-Valdéon blue cheese grits ($16); sausage and cranberry strata with a side salad of farm greens ($14) and banana-oatmeal- raisin pancakes with spiced cinnamon syrup and choice of bacon or sausage ($14). Appetizer specials include a crabcake with lemon caper mayonnaise ($16); a salad of mixed baby greens tossed in a red wine vinaigrette ($7); cheese and charcuterie ($11) 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).

Artist-in-residence Cole Broderick has been busily promoting his seventh CD release, "Chez Sophie Jazz." This CD is a departure for Cole, who won a Billboard Critic's Choice Award for his 4-CD set of jazz compositions: "Seasons in Saratoga," because it's the first time he's recorded with a vocalist. Weirdly enough, that vocalist is Cheryl Clark, co-owner of Chez Sophie, wife of Chef Paul and mother of the adorable Nico and Léo. Cole persistently urged her to sing with him in the dining room, and conceived and produced a CD of 12 of the standards the two of them perform in Chez Sophie's dining room and 4 original piano compositions. Our illustrious web designer, Sharon Maenza of Kilakwa Associates, has loaded parts of the CD onto our website at http://www.chezsophie.com/ Copies are for sale for $16 at Chez Sophie and through Cole's secure website at https://s.p2.hostingprod.com/@colebroderick.com/ssl/order-
cole-broderick-cds.html

We're booking reservations for New Year's Eve 2007, on Monday, December 31, 2007.
This is our most elegant party of the year, with festive decorations and special menus to make the evening memorable. Our early seating, with tables available at 5, 5:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m., will feature a prix fixe five-course menu including options for three of the courses, with a glass of Champagne included for $80 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
The New Year's Eve all-night party starts at 8 p.m., with seatings available at 8, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m. The 9-course menu will feature options for three of the courses, with a midnight Champagne toast included. Jazz Pianist Cole Broderick plans to start playing at 8 p.m. The cost is $130 per person, plus tax and gratuity Special prix fixe wine menu available as well as our full wine list and bar.
The Saratoga has agreed to make double and king rooms available to Chez Sophie customers for $219 per night. Book early, because the hotel is always sold out on New Year's Eve.
Reservations required with credit card confirmation, call 518.583.3538.

Live Piano Jazz
Jazz pianist Cole Broderick plays the baby grand Tuesday and 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

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, December 3, Tuesday, December 4, Wednesday, December
5 and Thursday, December 6

$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:
lapin forestiére
(rabbit with mushrooms and tomato)

Notes on Nico and Léo:

Nico snippet: "Mom, I had a dream last night. Do you remember it?"

Sunday, Paul called his wife at work with the sound of absolute misery in his voice. He had been spending his day off at home with the two children, and while he was sprinting to help Nico with something, 22-month-old Léo ran after him and tripped forehead-first into a sharp corner of the closet. Paul had quieted the child's sobs and put a bag of ice on her face before he called Cheryl, but he really just needed someone to tell the story to because it had scared him so badly. By the time Cheryl got home, there was barely a hint of a welt.

The next day, Cheryl was reading to the children and Léo was walking around on the sectional couch while Nico studied the pages. Suddenly, Léo decided to launch herself at her mother's head. Unfortunately, she missed, and went flying over the back of the couch onto the hardwood floor, clipping an oak rocking horse on the way down. Once the tears dried, Cheryl called her husband to commiserate. Nico, still studying his book, noted with a touch of wistfulness: "I used to do that."

Given the children's propensity for physical abandon, it seems a little crazy that the next day Mom decided to take Nico and Léo to see the Cirque du Soleil traveling show at the Palace Theatre in Albany. The two children are so enthused with the acrobatics they saw on stage that they've been spinning and tumbling and flipping each other ever since. Cheryl caught Nico playing with one of her long silk scarves, trying to wind up his sister like a yoyo so he could unroll her at high speeds across the room. Léo discovered by trial and error that a blanket on the floor is not nearly so springy as a trampoline when you jump off the bed and try to land in the splits.
Nico tried to contrive a balancing act with a TinkerToy cylinder and a dinosaur encyclopedia. While the shapes were much like the ones used by the acrobats on stage, the materials were not quite up to the task.

Luckily, he thought to ask his mother for permission first before attempting to juggle chopsticks and dinner knives.

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.)

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