Hello, everyone.

Sunday is Father's Day and we're planning some very special brunch specials for those who would like to treat their papas. Our Sunday Jazz brunch this week with pianist Cole Broderick is an à la carte, cooked-to-order affair, which will feature bananas Foster French toast with your choice of bacon or sausage ($14); Belgian waffles stuffed with Grand Marnier mascarpone cheese and fresh blueberries with bacon or sausage ($14); beef short ribs braised in Chimay Ale ($15); and strozzapetti pasta à la vodka with sautéed shrimp ($15).

Strozzapetti, by the way, literally translates to "strangle the priest" which we suspect is a reference to the hand-motion required to make the curly little pastas, which resemble wrung out towels.

Appetizer specials include steamed Rhode Island Littleneck clams ($12); crabcake with caper mayonnaise ($14), a salad of Sunset Hill Farm greens tossed in a red wine vinaigrette ($7) 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 ($9 to $15); 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.

We got some great suggestions by email on what to call one of our new house cocktails, the one made with tequila and Yuzu, a citrus juice from Japan. Margarit-zu, Yozuria, Sophierita, Longshotrita, the International, the Three Continents, and the Odds-on Rita were some of the choices, but in the end, we went for something so simple and obvious that were surprised we didn't think of it: Yuzurita. Thanks to Van Cushny for naming the drink (and for offering some of the less obvious names as well.)

Mitch, the bartender, started the new cocktail menu Thursday night and the first drink that was ordered was an A-Pear-Atif. "The guy next to her cracked up," Mitch said. "He loved the name."
Then the chilled martini glass was lovingly lined with paper thin slices of whole pear and filled with a concoction of Grey Goose La Poire Vodka, pear purée and lemon juice.
"They loved it," Mitch said happily. "They were really happy."

Other cunning entries on the cocktail menu are the Blackout Cooler, the Peach Julep, Planter's Punch, Chocolate Espresso Bracer, the Pomegrenade, the Basil Lemon Drop, Key Lime Cocktail, Melon Rickey and French Sidecar. We'll talk about the other recipes in coming weeks.

Tuesday we got an email from Mitch, wishing us a Happy Anniversary.
We were confused, because Paul and Cheryl were married in July, then we realized that June 12 was the one-year anniversary of Chez Sophie opening in the new location in Saratoga. Our noses were buried so deeply in making the restaurant work, we didn't realize we had survived our our first year. Thank you to all the dedicated staff and loyal customers who made this possible.

The Pink Plate Special this coming week will be Kobe-style Wagyu beef tri-tips, done as a springtime boeuf Bourguignonne. It will involve mashed root vegetables on the bottom, the beef braised in red wine, stock, bacon fat and butter, and topped with a cold salad of mushrooms, tomatoes, Vidalia onions and possibly celeriac and carrots.

Wagyu is a breed imported from Japan, which is famous for its Kobe Wagyu beef, which is famous for being ridiculously expensive. Kobe Beef is a legendary delicacy of Japan, from a breed of beef (Wagyu) that is so well marbled that it can't even be rated on Prime grading charts in other countries. It rivals foie gras for richness and costs a ridiculous (did we say that
already?) amount - upwards of $300 a pound. Luckily, there is more land in Australia and the United States than in Japan, and some enterprising ranchers there have imported Japanese Wagyu cattle and are raising it with the same special diet and care taken with the stock's Japanese ancestors.

The beef is massaged daily and fed a special diet to increase its marbling (which is what makes it rich and buttery.) The American Wagyu is so good that most of it is imported to Asian markets, where the consumers know and appreciate marbling.

We're able to offer Wagyu as the Pink Plate because Tri-Tips are the little bits that are left over after you cut the bottom of the sirloin into steaks in the perfect little manufacturing chunks that restaurants order these days. It's a great muscle, from the best part of the beast, but an odd shape, so they tend to sell at very reasonable prices compared to the price that Prime or Wagyu beef is fetching these days.

Unlike most cuts of adult beef, Paul thinks Wagyu is better cooked more rather than less, sort of like veal.
"I think it's better if it's cooked more because you get more of that kind of as foie gras taste if you let the fat melt into the muscle," he said. Gourmands tend to assume that rareness is a test of endurance, but Wagyu sushi is not as flavorful as Wagyu that is cooked to medium or braised.

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.

We'll be serving pheasant this weekend, braised in Port wine, finished with cream.

Paul plans to do Wild Alaskan King salmon with chanterelles and a red wine sauce for this weekend, provided of course that the supply of beautiful chanterelle mushrooms continues unabated. We had a ton in Thursday, but then we had about 100 people who came in and ordered dishes with chanterelles and wiped out the day's supply of these beautiful trumpet shaped mushrooms. We know that we can get more Wild Kimg Alaskan salmon, so if more chanterelles appear, we're golden.

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 at an additional charge or you can order from our extensive wine list.
Cost: $75 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: $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, June 18, Tuesday, June 19, Wednesday, June 20 and Thursday, June 21.

$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:
springtime beef Bouguignonne with Wagyu beef tri-tips

Notes on Nico and Léo: Four-year-old Nico is at the age where he wants constant attention. He doesn't really think he's playing if someone isn't actively watching him play, and he can't stand for there to be a conversation for which he isn't the center. He is constantly schooled on not interrupting, and when he's in the right frame of mind, he gets as far as interrupting every few seconds to say, "When you're done, I have something to tell you." Yesterday, his parents were talking and he kept waiting to jump in. Finally, in a fit of impatience, he said: "Daddy, don't be so interested in Mommy."

Cheryl took Tuesday off to be with the kids, and was surprised when their Nanny, Hope, called to say she was on the way over just as she was packing stuff into the car to take them to the beach. Apparently, Paul had asked Hope to work because he's concerned that his wife doesn't get enough downtime. So we crammed Hope and one of her friends into the station wagon as well, on the theory that it's a lot easier to watch kids at the beach with more adults than fewer.
Unfortunately, as soon as we got the kids into the water at Moreau State Park, lightning appeared in the sky and they closed the beach.
We got the kids a couple of hotdogs at the snack bar in hopes that the clouds would pass, but we got cell phone calls from Saratoga warning us that a real storm was headed north. Rather than go home with two wound-up children, we decided to try to outrun the storm. We drove up Prospect Mountain, but it turns out Nico was only marginally interested in the view. He wanted to go down into the village (mostly he wanted to see if there was an arcade.) We drove back down and let the two of them run on Million Dollar Beach until it started to rain, then dashed for cover. As Cheryl was changing Léo's wet diaper and clothes in the back of the car, Hope and Nico discovered a suitable alternative to an arcade. There is a small shop in Lake George that a young mother has outfitted with a few small inflatable bouncing rides and a box full of plastic balls that the kids rolled around and jumped in until they were covered with minor bruises. She even painted the kids' faces, which they held remarkably still for (would that either of them had been so patient when we were trying to wash the paint off later that night.)

We managed to stay there long enough that the arcade next door closed, which was a relief to Mom, who is about sick of electronic entertainments, but a disappointment to Nico, who is obsessed with "games." To compensate, we took them for ice cream cones, then tried to get the sticky, damp, sand- and paint-covered kids back in the car. As Léo nodded off in her carseat, Nico tried to assess the day.
"Did we do anything fun today, Mommy?" he asked.
Trying not to be exasperated, Cheryl recounted all of the things we had managed to pack into the afternoon.
Nico mulled it over, frowned, looked at his Mom in the rear-view mirror, considered some more, then said with a huge grin: "We had a great day, Mom. You did really well."

The Parker family
at Chez Sophie
518.583.3538