Hello, everyone.

Chef Paul had a brain storm this week as we were discussing the fact that lunch during the summer is an extremely slow shift because so many people spend the middle part of their day at the thoroughbred track or at various lakes, golf courses or matinées at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. He came up with an admirable solution: we'll send lunch with them.

Starting next week, you can order a Chez Sophie picnic box lunch to pick up in the morning and take with you wherever you plan to spend the day. We ordered elegant packaging materials Thursday night and will be able to start taking orders as soon as they arrive in a few days.

"The box lunch idea is to do good cold food that's actually tasty, edible and nutritious," Chef Paul said. "I'm going to offer three different options. A vegetarian 'grand plateau des sans visages'
which will be an array of salads with a balance of proteins, vegetables and starches; chilled filet mignon with a variety of condiments; and roasted Cornish hen. Each of the meat dishes will be served with two sides, something with fresh, seasonal vegetables and something like fingerling potatoes dressed in olive oil and sea salt."

You can order the boxes by telephone the night before by calling
518.583.3538 and pick them up any time after 8 a.m. The prices will range from $17 to $21 per person.

The New York City Ballet started early this year, and we knew the summer season had begun when the restaurant filled up at 5 p.m. with people either coming from the afternoon matinée or headed to the evening performance. It is a joy to see all the dancers and orchestra members, as well as the patrons, and it lends a real sense of excitement to the evenings. We will be extending our dinner seatings until 10 p.m. starting this weekend, and will seat groups later, after the performances at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center by prior arrangement.

This is the last week to take advantage of our Pink Plate Special before it goes on summer vacation for July and August. Because we've been having so much fun with fresh vegetables from the Saratoga Farmers' Market, the last special will be a vegetarian tagine topped with a light pastry filled with chick peas and other delectables.

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.

SWEETBREAD ALERT: Paul is purging sweetbreads so they will be on the menu tomorrow and will be available through at least the middle of the week.

He's also planning something light and summery with quail for this weekend, something like a delicate quail soup with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and chayote.

The chayote, pronounced [chah-YOH-teh] also known as chcoko or vegetable pear, is an edible plant first domesticated in Mexico. The name chayote is derived from the Nahuatl world chayotli and the squash was a staple of the Aztec diet. It belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae along with melons, cucumbers and squash. It kind of looks like a wrinkly green pear, has a crisp texture like a water chestnut and tastes like a starchy cross between a cucumber and a potato. In France, it is called a christophene. The fruit is rich in amino acids and vitamin C and has diuretic, cardiovascular and anti- inflammatory properties. A tea made from the leaves has been used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and to dissolve kidney stones.
In Australia, a rumor floated around for years that McDonald's Apple Pies were made of chayotes, not apples. McDonald's fought this rumor strenuously, advertising that real Granny Smith apples were used in their pies. Ironically, chayotes are far more expensive and taste more interesting than Granny Smiths.

Chef Paul ordered 12 pounds of Copper River sockeye salmon for the weekend, some of which he'll smoke and cure, and some of which he'll serve fresh. The Copper River in Prince William Sound begins in the glacier-coated mountains of Alaska and thunders 300 miles through the Baird and Wood canyons, draining into a 60-mile wide delta known as the Copper River Flats near the remote fishing village of Cordova.
Then it plunges 3,600 feet into the sea. It is the site of one of the world's most famous salmon runs in late June and early July. Contrary to popular belief, Sockeye is not a river in Alaska, but one of seven varieties of Pacific salmon, marked by its deeply red flesh, made more intense by its diet of crustaceans and plankton. The name is probably a corruption of the Indian term sukkai. We never serve farm- raised salmon at Chez Sophie for any number of reasons, but will snap up this type of delicious, rich, muscular wild fish whenever our fishmonger can get it from the docks at New York or Boston.

He's also thinking of doing dry sea scallops with a summery sauce like a purée du lettuce "although I was also halfway thinking of doing a ceviche," or as they say in France, escabêche.

We're serving a cool dish of Kobé-style tri-tips. Paul is searing the meat lightly and cooking it a miso broth which comes out slightly sweet and a little spicy.
"Not spicy, exactly, 'epicée'," Paul said. "In French, there are two words for spicy, "piquante' which means spicy like hot peppers and 'épicée,' which means strong in spices such as cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and fennel seed."

Miso is fermented rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a mold called ?? or koji-kin. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso can be salty, sweet, earthy, fruity and savory.

Two French people dined with us Thursday night and gravely advised the server that he should never pour red wine so that bubbles appear on the surface of the wine. The server, Scott Maxwell, who has been trained by us for four years since he was a busboy, thought of this as he watched the bartender gently pour beer into a tilted glass about 2 a.m. Scott told Cheryl about the couple and asked her if she had perhaps forgotten to tell him this key piece of advice.

Cheryl was confused. Clearly you want to handle an older or chunky red gently so that the sediment doesn't get suspended in the wine.
But Cheryl actually pours high above the glass on certain wines, trying to whip in as much air as possible. Paul, who is extremely dextrous, has been known to stand on a chair while decanting to get even more air into an old Bordeaux or Rhône that should have been decanted far earlier in the evening than there is time for.

Cheryl looked in several instructional manuals on wine service and found no mention of avoiding the dreaded red wine bubbles. So she called Paul, who had gone home with the children, and asked him if he knew anything about this, because he's been selling wine far longer than she has.

"That's complete nonsense," Paul said. "If you're pouring a 25-year- old Burgundy I might be a little more delicate with it. But that happens so rarely, and there are a lot of wines that you want to introduce air into. And, it's virtually impossible to pour wine with no bubbles without tilting the glass and pouring down the side of the glass, and in fact, you're not supposed to touch the glass of someone you are serving. That IS a rule. It's okay if you're at home with friends, but never at a restaurant table."

Paul also said that this is the only country he knows of where people expect you to tilt the beer glass to avoid making a foamy head. (The head releases all the natural flavors and aromas, and we guess if you're drinking a really pale, lite beer, you're better off avoiding those smells.)

Mitch, the bartender, heard the bit about not handling the glassware and noted that he will often tilt a Champagne glass behind the bar because it makes the glass fill faster. Cheryl noted that we don't do that at the table, because of the "don't-touch" rule, but said if you pour Champagne down the side of the glass (preferably the INSIDE) very slowly, it makes a dramatic show. If you do it that way, instead of rushing the pour so that you fill a glass with foam, fill the next glass, and go back to the first glass to add some more, sometimes, the customers will actually applaud the patience of the pourer.

Our Sunday Jazz brunch this week with pianist Cole Broderick will feature grilled loin lamb chops with roast garlic mint jus and truffled mashed potatoes ($16); tamarind-soy glazed grilled duck breast with coconut cilantro rice pilaf ($15); bacon-wrapped salmon with fingerling potato hash ($15); and strozzapetti pasta with pancetta and smoked Gouda ($14). Appetizer specials include moules mariniére ($12); a salad of Sunset Hill Farm greens tossed in a red wine vinaigrette ($7); crabcake with caper mayonnaise ($14) 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 $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

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 LAST Pink Plate Special of the season offered Monday, July 9, Tuesday, July 10, Wednesday, July 11 and Thursday, July 12.

$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:
vegetable tagine with a chickpea pastry

Notes on Nico and Léo:

Paul took Léo and Nico Sunday to visit his sister and niece and had a charming time. Annarose, who is 12, entertained Nico for hours by lifting buckets of water from the stream that bisects the backyard of her weekend house and using them to soak the footbridge that crosses it. "Nico declared that when they were done it "would be the wettest ever." Léo entertained Paul's sister by snatching and moving every small item in the no-longer-childproof house.

On Monday, we were invited to a backyard barbecue by a couple of longtime customers. We ensured that there would never be a second invitation by bringing the two children along. Nico waded right into their backyard swimming pool in spite of its rather frigid temperature, but eventually got bored because he can't yet swim.
Cheryl retrieved a manual kayak pump from the back of the station wagon, and he entertained himself for at least a half hour by demanding that everyone watch him pump water onto himself.

Cheryl took Nico and Léo to Peerless Pool at the Spa State Park Tuesday. It was the first time she'd been to a public swimming pool since she was a teenaged lifeguard, and the first time the children had ever been. We came in remarkably ill-equipped. There are always a couple of buckets full of sandy shovels and rakes in the back of the station wagon, but since there is no sand at a swimming pool, we didn't bring any toys in. Younger, yet infinitely more experienced mothers knew better. There was a huge family of extremely tanned, lithe, attractive Italian women at the sprinkler pool with a gaggle of small children and the proper complement of appropriate paraphernalia. Cheryl was shy, because she was at least 15 years older than the oldest mother among them, and she's never known how to start a conversation with a woman who has one-month-old baby, well- defined abdominal muscles, French-manicured toenails and perfect glossy hair.

The children, however, had no such qualms, and sensed instantly which people at the pool knew what they were doing. Within minutes, they had acquired about the most clever pool toys Cheryl would have never thought of: paintbrushes. As simple as it sounds, the kids dip the brushes in water and paint on the concrete, trying to finish their pictures before the sun makes them evaporate. We know all the real Moms are laughing now because they've known about this forever. But for Cheryl, Nico and Léo, it was a revelation.

We don't usually recommend movies in this space, but after we came back from the swimming pool, Cheryl took Nico and Léo to the Malta Drive-in to see "Ratatouille," the new Pixar animated film about a rat named Rémy, who longs to be a French chef. It was a scream. Nico and Léo, who at their divergent ages have vastly different attention spans, both loved it and Cheryl was amused from beginning to end.

The Parker family
at Chez Sophie
518.583.3538