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Hello, everyone!

Let us start by saying that we are fine, no one is hurt and we will be serving dinner normally Friday evening. Let us add to that: "Never a dull moment at the Chez" - an assessment made by one of our long- time waiters Wednesday night.

That night, the servers had just finished setting up the dining room with crisp fresh Irish linen, had lighted the candles, and we were preparing to greet our first diners. Earlier in the day, when Cheryl had been at the market with the kids buying fresh flowers, she had gotten a call from one of the breakfast waiters to let her know there was a small leak over table 14. Cheryl told them to call hotel maintenance, and she would be there in about 15 minutes.

When she arrived, there was a little drip over one of the alcoves, and the hotel manager and an engineer were there, debating whether the water was coming from an ice dam in a gutter or there was a leak in a pipe. Since it was such a tiny little drip, we simply placed a bucket near the table and decided to deal with it the following morning when there was enough sunlight to see the nature of the problem.

At 5:30, Cheryl was standing at the bar and heard a difference in the way the little drips were hitting the bucket. She walked down to Table 14, saw that the leak was increasing, and called out to the host to call building maintenance. At that moment, a piece of plaster popped out of the ceiling into her face and a gusher of icy, oily water exploded, knocking Cheryl backwards over two tables and onto the banquette. "Call maintenance now!" she sputtered, spitting out nasty dark water.

For the next 90 minutes, water gushed from the sprinkler head at about 300 pounds per square inch, slowly decreasing as the 8,000 gallon reserve tank for the fire suppression system emptied into the dining room. Already completely drenched, Cheryl began hauling the tables and chairs out of the dining room to staff members standing on the upper level. Chef Paul and several other staff members dove into the rising water with bags of towels, trying to create a dam to stop the flood from spreading across the dining room.

Someone thought to open the doors to the courtyard, and employees grabbed every squeegee and push broom they could scavenge and started pushing the water, which was rising four to six inches against the dam of wet towels, out the doors into the courtyard. It was between 10 and 16 degree Fahrenheit outside, so people started to freeze pretty quickly in the air from the open doorway. The handles of the squeegees and brooms became coated with a layer of ice. Cheryl, who had stripped to her undershirt and bare feet, developed icicles on the ends of her braids and the appendages that her infant daughter loves best. The towel dam finally became effective as it froze solid.

Meanwhile, the hotel staff was trying desperately to shut off the reserve tank for the sprinkler system. Unable to close off the water, they opened all the fire mains, pouring water all over the icy sidewalks, and then standing guard to make sure no customers wandered across them and got hurt. The hotel manager called the sprinkler repair company, while Chez Sophie's bookkeeper called emergency cleanup services until she found one that could respond in less than two hours. Our host, Adam, called all the reservations scheduled for the night to let them know of the disaster, and then took pictures of the debacle to show to the insurance companies.
(see his photos, here.)

Cheryl and Paul had been ignoring the employees who were standing on the dry upper level holding warm blankets and shouting for them to come out of the water. We, along with some of the hotel employees and several intrepid Chez Sophie employees, were trying to save as much of the floor as possible while the rest of the hotel staff struggled to either shut off the valve to the water tank or drain the darn thing somewhere other than the interior of the building. When Cheryl finally left the disaster site and went back to the nursery, Nico
asked: "Mommy, why is there glass in your pants?" It wasn't glass. It was ice that had formed on her legs inside her pants.

Paul and other people stayed down there in that doorway far longer than Cheryl, shoving water out the door into the freezing night air.
Several other employees carried out instructions to set up a mobile refreshment station in the lobby outside the restaurant for the utility workers from out of state who were staying at the hotel while they helped the local crews get the power back on in the Capital Region after Monday's ice storm. Other servers worked with The Saratoga staff to set up a buffet and tables in the hotel's gallery so we could serve breakfast Thursday morning.

By 8 p.m., most of the water had drained from the reserve tank, and some very competent gentlemen from First Response were sucking the rest of the water out of the carpet and setting up a dozen heavy duty fans and dehumidifiers in the lower dining room. The hotel called Simplex, the contractor for the sprinkler system, to fix the blown pipe so the reserve tank could be refilled, and early Thursday morning, someone came to start repairing the plaster that the high- pressure blast of water blew out of the ceiling. We hung plastic sheeting to seal the dehumidifiers in. On Thursday night, we had two large business dinners and six private tables scheduled, and after calling them to explain the situation, accommodated them all rather cozily on our upper bar level. Oddly, some of the first time diners remarked on how beautiful the dining room was. We actually had to point out that plastic sheeting is not a standard architectural feature and let them peek through to see the equipment drying out the rest of the house.

It seems stupid to say so, but we were incredibly lucky. Had our employees not been so quick and smart in their response, the damage could have been much worse. As it is, we didn't really lose anything that can't be easily replaced.

The First Response guys say we can clear everything and set the dining room normally by late afternoon Friday, which is great. We're hoping for a decent crowd on Friday night, because this is our first weekend night since we were awarded four stars (the highest rating) by The Times Union on Sunday. For a brief moment in time, we were one of the few underwater four-star restaurants in the world.

To read the full review by Ruth Fantasia (this is the first four-star review she has written) see http://timesunion.com/entertainment/
restaurants/onereview.asp?RestaurantID=1511.

When we owned the diner and the weather got really cold and icy, we usually sent the staff home, hung out for a little while, then locked up early. When we got to the restaurant at the hotel Monday, Saratoga was largely dark, the sidewalks were so icy you could barely walk and the emergency sirens were wailing. Three servers and a bartender showed up for the evening shift, and when they saw that there were only six reservations that hadn't cancelled yet, they began to talk among themselves about which one of them would go home.

Cheryl and Paul talked it over and decided we had better not take any chances since this was the first bit of inclement weather we've, well, weathered, since we moved into a hotel. Within a couple of hours, more than 30 people poured in, wet, tired and lacking electricity in their homes. It wasn't a huge night, but it was certainly kind of fun as we welcomed the wet and weary to the fireplace and warmed them up. In spite of our little mishap Wednesday, we do seem to have the potential for being a port in the storm when our customers lose power or get iced in.

Paul is feeling spicy and has decided that next week's Pink Plate Special should be Merguez, a small spicy sausage popular in Tunisia, Algeria and France. Merguez is the French transliteration of the Arabic word mirqaz. Paul and souschef Mark Lawrence will make the sausage with lamb from Elihu Farm in Easton and cook it "taginé" with dried plums, almonds and cous cous. In Morocco, tagine is a stew made in a porous clay pot with a conical lid that is soaked in water before being packed with meat or poultry, vegetables, olives, garlic, spices fruits and nuts and gently simmered over a slow fire. "Taginé" -note the accent over the final "e" - is a weaselly way of admitting that we don't actually have enough small tagine pots to do this completely authentically, but we do have some squat, covered Chinese clay pots that should do admirably.

The Pink Plate is a weekly prix fixe special we offer on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. For $30 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.

Our next wine dinner will be Wednesday, January 31, featuring the wines of Warm Lake Estate, 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 dinner 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
The dinner is limited to 20 people around a single table in our private dining room.
Cost: $80 per person, plus tax and gratuity

Our Sunday Jazz Brunch this week will feature Asian braised pork chops served with mashed potatoes and baby carrots ($16); Belgian waffles stuffed with mascarpone and fresh berries, with sausage or bacon ($12); chorizo-saffron risotto with sautéed shrimp and tomato- saffron vinaigrette ($15); and blueberry French toast with vanilla maple syrup and your choice of bacon or sausage ($120

The brunch specials run from 10 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, quiche etcetera for $9; omelettes
($9 to $11); pancakes du jour ($9); 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).
Jazz pianist Cole Broderick plays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Diane Lachtrupp and Johnny Martinez offer free tango lessons to Chez Sophie customers once a month on Wednesday nights. The next tango night will be Wednesday, February 7. Diane and Johnny will offer a free lesson at 8:30, with dancing following. For those who would like to dine first before dancing, our regular menu is offered until 9 p.m. The bar menu is available until 10 p.m. and the bar will be open for at least a couple of hours after that.
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

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

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

Notes on Nico and Léo:
Like so many people in Saratoga, we woke Monday morning to no power and the sound of tree branches crashing to the ground under the weight of ice. After the third tree was pulled right out of the ground by the roots, we decided to move the family into The Saratoga for the night for safety's sake.
Nico staggered outside, still groggy from being rousted from bed and
said: "Oh my goodness! Those are obstacles!"
Mom and Dad looked at all the fallen trees and agreed, "Yes, son, those are definitely obstacles."
"That's just like the fish at the aquarium," Nico added. "Didn't one of those fish have obstacles?"
Cheryl thought hard about the sea creatures she'd looked at with him on the website for the New England Aquarium the night before. "Are you sure you don't mean tentacles? Or barnacles?"
"No," Nico said, skating on the icy driveway to the back end of the car. He lifted a boot and kicked off a bunch of icicles. " I mean these. Obstacles."

Happy birthday to our darling Léo, who turns one today. We'll try to take pictures of Nico blowing her candle out for her for next week's newsletter.

The Pink Plate Special
offered Monday, January 22 through Thursday, January 24

$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:
Merguez
spicy sausage with lamb from Elihu Farm in Easton, braised "taginé"
with dried plums, almonds and cous cous

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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