Hello, everyone.

We spent the week preparing for the holidays by working on our special event menus, putting up decorations and stocking festive new beverages.

We sketched out the details of our special menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas night. We will be open special holiday hours, with a festive, elegant prix fixe dinner to help you celebrate.

We will begin serving dinner at 2 p.m. each day, a five-course meal that includes 1. appetizer (your choice of a plateau de fruits de mer, terrine of foie gras, Provençal vegetarian sampler, or cadeaux d'escargots.) 2. Christmas consommé 3. entree (your choice of roast Christmas goose with quince chutney and Burgundy sauce, baked ham with a sauce of fresh cherries, Dover sole Cardinale, or vegetarian cassoulet) 4. winter salad of Belgian endive, watercress and pomegranite 5. dessert (your choice of apricot, quince and kumquat tart, crème brûlée, chocolate hazelnut tort or a selection of fine cheeses)

our regular à la carte menu will not be offered

$75 per person, plus tax and gratuity
$25 for children under 12

Reservations recommended
The last dinner reservation will be accepted at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and 7 p.m. on Christmas night

Chez Sophie will be serving brunch Sunday and Monday of that week from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Saratoga is offering rooms to Chez Sophie guests at a discounted rate of $79 per night

Paul has also come up with some great ideas for the New Year's Eve menus.
Early diners (seated at 5, 5:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m.) will have their choice to start of oysters on the halfshell with shallot mignonette or terrine de foie gras. The second course will be a black and white soup of imperial black rice with shallot cream. The third course will be a choice of Chateaubriand, seared breast of goose or fish. The fourth course will be a winter salad of blood oranges, grana, frisée, and almonds. The final course will be a choice of chocolate soup with mascarpone swirl and fried dessert pasta (the black and white soup number 2) or gateau citré, an orange layer cake made with kumquats and a lemon buttercream.
This prix fixe five-course menu includes a glass of Champagne and is priced at $75 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

The late-night New Year's Eve party features a nine-course menu, with seatings at 8, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m. Jazz Pianist Cole Broderick will start playing at 8 p.m., and there have been some requests to move the chairs from in front of the fireplace later in the evening to allow dancing.
Diners will start with and amuse guele of escargots with Pernod butter and cream in puff pastry, followed by their choice of oysters on the halfshell with shallot mignonette or terrine de foie gras.
Next will be the black and white soup of imperial black rice with shallot cream. The fourth course will be a terrine of legumes or seared venison. Next comes passion fruit sorbet, then a choice of Chateaubriand, seared breast of goose or fish. The winter salad of blood oranges, grana, frisée, and almonds follows, with a selection of cheese close behind. The meal will end with a choice of chocolate soup with mascarpone swirl and fried dessert pasta (the black and white soup number 2) or gateau citré, an orange layer cake made with kumquats and a lemon buttercream. The cost, which includes a midnight Champagne toast, is $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

Cheryl will also be devising her annual prix fixe wine menu with tasting notes and suggested pairings, a tremendous bargain at $65, which allows diners to sample up to 12 different wines in what ever order they choose. The full wine list and bar will also be available.

Double rooms at The Saratoga will be offered to Chez Sophie customers at a discounted rate of $199 per night.
Reservations required with credit card confirmation
518.583.3538

In a shipment of wine we received today was Joêl Falmet Champagne Brut, which is very reasonably priced at $75 a bottle. It is edgy for a true Champagne, made by a guy outside the establishment. It has oomph and berries and other subtleties peeking out of a generous layer of yeasty, toasty goodness. The Domaine is located in the Côtes des Bar, which is 70 miles southeast of all the big guys. The domaine produces only 1,200 cases a year of the Brut Tradition and we just
bought three. The Champagne is 70 percent pinot noir, 20 percent
pinot meunier and 10 percent chardonnay.

We also got the delicious Paul Laurent Brut Rosé Champagne (about $60 a bottle and $11 a glass.) A blend of 70% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay, this wine follows traditional Champagne methods of vinification and is aged on its lees for a minimum of 18 months prior to release. The predominance of pinot noir is apparent in the bright, berry fruit aromas and the rich, mouth-filling texture. The chardonnay lends liveliness and provides its pleasantly long, clean finish.

In the same shipment were a couple of Bandols that Cheryl is very excited about. One is the first Bandol that ever caught her fancy many years ago, the 2003 "La Bastide Blanche" from L. & M. Bronzo.
Cheryl tells people she loves Bandol because she is completely lacking in subtlety and these are big, nasty, tarry, sexy wines that kick you in the butt. They are mostly made from Mourvedre, a grape of Spanish origin (called Mataro in Spain) that grows well in warm sea breezes, clay soils and sunshine of Provence. La Bastide Blanche (the name refers to an old, white country fortress/house on the property) is a savage, meaty wine with very focussed flavors of leather and game, bouillon, cherries, vanilla, dried plums and peppers. It has a forceful finish of coffee and bittersweet chocolate. $58 per 750 ml bottle).

We also got the "Estagnol" version of La Bastide Blanche in the same vintage in half bottles ($37.)

Cheryl ordered the Tour du Bon Bandol "Revolution" 2003, which will sell for about $42 a bottle. This is a less expensive Bandol largely because the grapes are purchased from various vineyards rather than being grown in a single plot. But the flavor isn't at all cheap. It tastes of black olives, dark berry fruit and pepper. A blend of Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Grenache, it's plummy, meaty and spicy. It will be delicious with slow-cooked lamb, which brings us neatly to next week's Pink Plate Special.

It will be braised lamb shanks, a delicious cold weather restorative.
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, plus coffee, tea or espresso.

Our Sunday Jazz Brunch this week will feature bourbon-glazed beef tenderloin with rosemary potatoes ($18); cinnamon apple French toast ($12); mascarpone and berry-stuffed Belgian waffles with fresh sage pork sausage ($15); and eggs Benedict with crab and crawfish ($16).

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.

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 night
Wednesday, December 13
The members of Tango Fusion, a local tango club, will 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

Tango Class
January 10th
Johnny and Diane will offer a free tango class to Chez Sophie customers at 8:30, with open dancing afterwards. We plan to repeat this feature on the second Wednesday of each month.

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, December 11 through Thursday, December 14 $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:
braised lamb shanks

Notes on Nico and Léo: It was a typical Sunday at Chez Sophie. Chef Paul had spent the morning at home enjoying the company of Nico and Léo while Cheryl covered Sunday brunch. After brunch, Cheryl started decorating two Christmas trees for the courtyard. Because it was so cold outside, she decided to wire the lights onto them on the heated loading dock in the back of the hotel and then carry the live trees out to the courtyard to plant them firmly in the soil. Paul arrived with the kids while Cheryl was still gooey with pine sap and not quite done with the project. Paul really needed to get started on dinner preparations, so one of the servers, Billy, said he would watch the kids while Cheryl finished the trees and got cleaned up. He got the kids a grilled cheese sandwich and some salad, and perched them together on a bar stool as he had seen Nico and Léo's parents do so many times before. He stood over them, helping Léo eat (and making sure that Nico shared) while Nico wrapped his arm around his baby sister and chatted. Then the phone rang. Billy took a few steps to the end of the bar to grab the receiver, while Nico mused to the bartender in apparent innocence: "She could fall off the chair." The bartender, Chris, was not deceived, but he couldn't get out from behind the bar quickly enough before Nico gave his sister an experimental bump that sent her crashing to the floor.

Billy felt awful. He is not a parent and so is not used to how often children fall and bounce, and was mortified that Léo took a fall while in his care. He snatched the sobbing child from the floor and rushed to the nursery to try to find Mama. Mama, at that unfortunate moment, was heading up the back hallway past the nursery, wrestling with a seven-foot pine tree. She looked at Billy clutching her now fairly quiet infant, who had a rather suspicious pink mark on her forehead. Billy, seeing that there were no maternal hands free, said with quiet desperation: "She really wants her mother."

(The mark went away without leaving a bruise and Léo seemed no worse for wear, but Nico did get a stern lecture about not testing the forces of gravity with his sister's body.)

Those lectures have a limited effect on curbing Nico's tendencies to make mischief. He knows quite well that it's against the rules to push any of the buttons in the car, but can't seem to resist the temptation. It's gotten worse since we replaced his baby car seat with a "big boy booster" because he can now unbuckle his own belt and jump into the front seat. On Tuesday, Cheryl took the day off and decided to take the kids to their first-ever movie matinee because it was so cold outside. She warmed up the station wagon, got both kids safely strapped in, stepped onto the porch to lock up and turned back to see the hazard lights going and Nico happily in the front seat pushing away. Now this is seriously dangerous, especially with the car running, and Mom did not soften her tone when informing Nico of his transgression. He jumped out of the driver's seat and slammed the door shut and ran around to his side, only to discover that one of the buttons he'd pushed locked the doors. Now Mom was both worried and furious, because Léo was sleeping peacefully in the carseat with the car running. Just as she was dialling AAA, she noticed that somehow, miraculously, the hatch hadn't locked, so disaster was averted, at least for the moment. A subdued Nico climbed compliantly into his carseat and apologized all the way to the movie theater for breaking the rules. But when we came out of the movie theatre a couple of hours later into the freezing cold, Mom realized that Nico had tampered with another button: the switch that turns the headlights off automatically when the key is removed. This time AAA did have to come bail us out, which gave Mom a good long time to lecture Nico about the dangers of playing with buttons and switches.

We hope to see you soon,