Sotto Sopra's Green Monday...

...because everyone has an expired Groupon, etc., they haven't been able to use.... This is a great idea!

SOTTO SOPRA’S GREEN MONDAY

November 26

Recycle your expired dining coupon or gift certificate

(Baltimore, MD – November 19, 2012) In the spirit of Thanksgiving, of giving thanks for their customers’ continued patronage, Sotto Sopra Restaurant at 405 N. Charles Street has created a whole new holiday, GREEN MONDAY. There is Thanksgiving, there is Black Friday, there is Small Business Saturday and now there is Sotto Sopra's GREEN MONDAY, Monday, November 26, where customers can recycle their expired dining certificate or gift certificate (of any kind - even unused/expired spa gift certificates) into savings.

Bring Sotto Sopra Restaurant your expired dining coupon or gift certificate on GREEN MONDAY and they will recycle it into a 30% savings. Only one expired certificate or gift certificate needed per table. You and your companions will receive 30% percent discount off a dinner tab of $100 or more. Dinner service starts at 5:30 p.m.-no other promotions or discounts apply.

Enjoy Sotto Sopra's GREEN MONDAY - Recycle an expired gift certificate or dining coupon, and keep more green in your pocket. Call for reservations at 410 625 0534 or us www.opentable.com.

Sotto Sopra Restaurant features true contemporary Northern Italian cuisine paired with Maryland’s regional foods, and has been doing so for over sixteen years. The restaurant is located in a 19th century building with lends a very European and cosmopolitan ambiance along with its exceptional cuisine and service.

Sotto Sopra Restaurant
405 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 625 – 0534 Twitter @SottoSopra
www.sottosoprainc.com

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Top Restaurant Dishes of 2010

This past year, Mr Minx and I dined out quite a bit and tried out many new-to-us places. For the most part, our dining excursions were largely rewarding, but some meals were more successful than others. Here are some of the highlights, in order of consumption. :)

Back in March, we had a fantastic multi-course meal celebrating the Chinese New Year at Grace Garden with the Charm City Chowhounds. While most dishes were amazing, my very favorite was the lemongrass lamb chops, a dish I got them to recreate for me in September. (They'll do it for you, too, if you call and request it three or so days in advance. Be prepared for sticker shock when you get your bill.) They were big (the spoon is oversized) and meaty and redolent of lemongrass, with just enough fat to make them juicy. Heavenly.

Lemongrass Lamb Chops

On my one lonely trip to New York this April, I had the pleasure of dining at Momofuku Ssam Bar for the first time. The much-lauded pork belly buns definitely deserve a spot on this list.

June was a bumper month for dining out. First, we tried Talara, where everything was uniformly delicious. However, I would have to say that my favorite dishes were the "Fire & Ice" seviche with prickly pear granita, and the tres leches cake.

Also in June came the Chef for a Day dinner prepared by fellow blogger Liz Stambaugh at Sotto Sopra. Her foie gras gnocchi were both feather light and super rich at the same time - perfection!

Foie gras gnocchi

We went on another Charm City Chowhound excursion, this time to Columbia, where we were introduced to the authentic Thai menu at Bangkok Garden. The salad of smoky grilled eggplant and especially the sour red curry and acacia omelette hotpot were the standout dishes of the meal for me.

Acacia omelette hot pot

Finally, at the end of the month, a very generous friend treated me to a wine dinner at Top Cheftestant and All-Star Jennifer Carroll's restaurant, 10 Arts by Eric Ripert in Philly. I wasn't bowled over by the majority of the dishes, but the pork belly-stuffed ravioli with morels was quite delicious, making me want get back and try more of Chef Carroll's cuisine when she's not trying to feed 80 people the same thing simultaneously.

Our first trip to the B&O American Brasserie, in August, yielded another dish for this list - the pork belly with bananas and lentils. The pork belly had all of the right textures - toothsome meat, melting fat, and crisp skin - and the lentil/banana combo was shockingly tasty (considering how bizarre it sounded).

Pork belly with bananas and lentils

I can't mention the top dishes of 2010 without a comment or ten about the amazing dinner we had at Volt this past September. After nearly a year of waiting, we were finally able to experience Table 21 and I have to say it met all of my (very high) expectations. One of my favorite courses, one that I still fantasize about (yes, I fantasize about food - probably no big surprise there), was the sublime, meltingly-tender tuna tartare and its many accompaniments. Another was the goat cheese ravioli. And the scallop with pea purée, the chicken parmesan, the lobster.... Everything.

The charcuterie plate we enjoyed at Clementine in September sure doesn't look like much, but that chicken liver mousse with rye whiskey and honey was some of the best chicken guts I have ever ingested.

Clementine charcuterie

Finally, to round out the year of pretty terrific restaurant dining, I'm going to say that the Low Country Louie seafood cocktail that I had at Langermann's on my birthday in November was one of my favorite appetizers of the year: perfectly cooked seafood in an interesting mustard-and-cilantro mayonnaise that I would love to recreate at home sometime soon.

I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to dine in so many good restaurants in 2010 and hope to continue the streak in 2011.

Chef for a Day Dinner at Sotto Sopra

Fellow local food blogger, Liz Stambaugh, of What's to Eat, Baltimore? was "chef for a day" at Sotto Sopra last week. The menu, coupled with the fact that we've sampled Liz's cooking before, enticed Mr Minx and I to make reservations for the event. Oh, and we love Sotto Sopra, so that was also an advantage.

We started off with a trio of meatballs: lamb with tomato braise over a risotto cake; calamari over ceci cake; pork with BBQ glaze over red cabbage slaw. The lamb was delicious, with a really subtle Moroccan vibe. In fact, "subtle" is a good word for the whole meal. We puzzled over the concept of a calamari meatball - wouldn't it be tough? But it was more like a croquette, with bits of calamari insulated by batter. (Actually, it reminded me quite a lot of takoyaki.)  The BBQ pork was my least favorite - the sauce tasted too...expected. A skotch too sweet. The accompanying slaw, however, had an unexpected element which I think was orange marmalade. Verrrry interesting. Must get recipe.

Next up: foie gras potato gnocchi with Parmesan cream and a Parmesan crisp. Wow. These little pillows of potato were perfect - light, yet decadent. Wee bits of foie tantalized the palate. And I loved the inclusion of the crisp, which acted as a much-needed textural contrast to all the soft richness in the dish.

The third course involved Gunpowder Bison rib eye, grilled veg with smoked mozzarella, and arugula almond pesto. The bison was perfectly cooked, medium-rare, and was uber-tender. The very lightly roasted veg included asparagus, zucchini, onion, fennel, and tiny tomatoes, with bits of soft-textured cheese. The cheese must have been house-smoked because it was so very subtle, without the bowl-you-over smoke of a commercial product. And the pesto was a simple smooth purée that tasted purely of both arugula and toasted almonds. Because the meat was pre-sliced and the vegetables were light, the dish was room temperature when it got to our table. However, this really did not detract from the dish and made it seem even more like the perfect entrée for a hot summer day.

Finally, we were brought grilled peaches with Mascarpone and peach stuffing, peach sorbet, lemoncello zabaglione, and a lavender crisp. I'm allergic to raw peaches but thought that a grilled one would be ok. Unfortunately, it wasn't grilled enough so I had to pop a Benadryl (slept like a baby that night) to ward off any potential reactions. The peach was hard but somehow managed to be sweet, and I loved the accompaniments, particularly the lavender crisp. A piece of caramelized sugar candy with aromatic bits of lavender in it, it lent a nice crispness to the dish. I think it would be marvelous melted into a hot cup of tea.

Overall, a really terrific meal, particular the killer gnocchi, the lamb meatball, the pesto, the crispy bits. The elements of each course were really well-thought-out. This meal was a real labor of love for Liz and it showed.

Chef for a Day at Sotto Sopra

Fellow Baltimore food blogger and Sustainable Food Examiner Liz Stambaugh will be "chef for a day" at Sotta Sopra on Tuesday, June 15th. Liz planned the menu with Chef Bill Crouse, and it sounds wonderful!

1st Course
Trio of Meatballs
1st-Lamb with Tomato Braise over Risotto Cake
2nd-Calamari over Ceci cake
3rd-Pork with BBQ glaze over Red Cabbage Slaw

2nd Course
Fois Gras Potato Gnocchi
Parmesan cream sauce with Parmesan crisp

3rd Course
Gunpowder Bison Rib Eye
grilled vegetables with smoked mozzarella
arugula almond pesto

4th Course
Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Peach Stuffing,
peach sorbet, lemoncello zabaglione and lavender crisp

$45 per person (excludes beverages, tax and gratuity)
When making your reservation, make sure to mention you want to attend Chef For the Day.
(410) 625 0534

A Sotto Sopra Birthday

I subscribe to the Sotto Sopra newsletter and get info on all the fabulous goings-on at the restaurant, including a list of customers who celebrate birthdays in that month. I was thrilled to find my name on the November list, for that meant I'd have a free dinner coming to me! Or at least $30 off my tab.

November is a busy month but Mr Minx and I were able to snag a table on Saturday the 28th. Despite our getting to the restaurant at 5:30 PM (yes, we eat early, like old people) the place soon filled up. It was nice to see that kind of happy crowd in a local restaurant and I hope that is a usual situation for Sotto Sopra.

On to the food. After much deliberation, I chose the sauteed calamari, which was cooked with green olives, broccoli rabe, and copious capers, making for an interesting tangy/bitter flavor profile. The calamari were perfectly cooked, tender and luscious, and the portion was more than generous.

Mr Minx chose the prosciutto platter, which came with grilled veggies, a salad, olives, and some yummy fresh soft mozzarella. (I would love to dive head-first into a vat of fresh mozz! Heaven!) Like the calamari, this was a generous portion and would have made a great lunch with some crusty bread.

I had the risotto del giorno, which was studded with lobster and asparagus. It was a very light version of risotto, and the combination of flavors would be perfect in the spring but was a little odd at the end of November. And it needed a bit of salt, which was not on the table and I didn't want to make our already-busy waitress (who was fab, by the way) run all the way to the kitchen to retrieve some.

I really should have, though, as Mr Minx's fazzoletti Bolognese also needed a dose of salt to bring out the long-simmered meaty goodness of the sauce.

After all that and lots of fresh, soft, foccaccia bread, we were stuffed and declined dessert. Instead, we enjoyed a glass of prosecco, sent our way by a lovely friend.

We like Sotto Sopra a lot - the decor, the convivial atmosphere,and the service are all top notch. The food, however, is always a bit inconsistent. Only our first meal there was "perfect" but we have had several stellar dishes since then. There are never any actual failures, but the problems encountered are so obvious and so easily fixable, that they are always a surprise. While I don't expect perfection from the majority of restaurants, somehow I always want Sotto Sopra to be the total package. And I'll continue to eat there because I'm confident that it's a reachable goal.

Sotto Sopra

405 North Charles Street

Baltimore, MD

410-625-0534

Surgeon Turns in Scalpel for Chef’s Knife

For one night only, Thursday, October 8, Dr. Dean Kane, the well-renowned plastic surgeon, will be putting down his scalpel and picking up a chef's knife. Under the guidance of Sotto Sopra’s executive chef, Bill Crouse, Dr. Kane will be preparing a five course gourmet Italian dinner (menu below) of which a portion of the proceeds will go to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. It is an evening of seasonal dishes, wine selections from The Wine Merchant and camaraderie as guests dine at communal tables in Sotto Sopra’s beautiful 19th century building located at 405 N. Charles Street. The evening’s festivities kick off at 6:30 p.m. with entertainment by Tony Sciuto throughout the evening.

Along with sharing his culinary talent, Dr. Kane will be selling a selection of his original pop photo art with 100% of the proceeds going to this worthy cause. Cost per person is $70, which includes the five course dinner, wine and entertainment.* Advanced reservations are required; call Sotto Sopra Restaurant at 410 625 0534.

Chef-for-the-Day

Dean P. Kane, MD

Thursday, October 8, 2009 – 6:30 p.m.

MENU

1st Course

Forest Mushroom Soup with Pine Nut Gratin

&

Arugula Salad

with goat cheese, dried cherries and Dijon mustard vinaigrette

2nd Course

Lobster Ravioli with Americana Sauce

topped with caviar

3rd Course

Lemon Basil Sorbetto

4th Course

Duetto

Grilled Lamb Chop

with minted eggplant caponata

&

Seared Halibut

on parsnip puree with lemon butter sauce

5th Course

Pumpkin Soufflé

with balsamic soaked fig

Cost $70.00 per person includes food, wine and entertainment

*Tax, gratuity and alcoholic beverages are not included in the cost. No other discounts or promotions are applicable to this special event.

(Sotto Sopra will be donating 10% of the evening’s proceeds to

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation/Maryland Affiliate)

Event Sponsor

10741 Falls Rd.

Lutherville, MD 21093

Ph: 410-321-6500

www.yourwinemerchant.com

For further information on this event or Sotto Sopra Restaurant please contact Dara Bunjon at 410-486-0339 / email dara@dara-does-it.com or contact Monika Pawlak-Bosio at the restaurant at 410.625.0534

Sotto Sopra

Hubby and I celebrated our seventh anniversary with a trip to Sotto Sopra. We had eaten there once during Restaurant Week a couple of years ago, and had always wanted to go back. We picked a good time to return - they just got a new chef who definitely has a way with food.

Everything on the regular menu sounded good, but we were especially intrigued by two dishes from the specials menu: a lobster-stuffed portabella appetizer, and a lobster risotto entree. I chose the latter, and started with the frittura di calamaretti; DH took the former, followed by Ravioli d'Anantra.

The stuffed mushroom could have been a real disaster--I imagined a heavy imperial sauce over tough lobster in a limp mushroom cap, a version that I might have encountered in my youth at someplace like Smitty's or Haussner's. But after an effusively elaborate description of the dish by a waiter, I had high hopes. And they were, I am happy to say, certainly met. The dish was a triumph of flavor. A large portabella cap had been laid on a bed of basil chiffonade and topped with a mixture of chopped tomato, onion, artichoke and lobster knuckle meat in a light basil sauce, and garnished with two whole lobster claw meats and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. The lobster was absolutely perfectly cooked; it was tender and juicy and had the lovely light springy quality that the claw should have. It was also imbued with a light herbal flavor. My husband said the dish was too good *not* to share (especially with his wife on our anniversary) and fed me forkfuls of tender mushroom, shreds of basil, and luscious lobster. As the sauce did not become gummy as the dish cooled (it was not the most heat-retaining of ingredient combinations) I thought it must be mayonnaise-based. Even at room temperature, the resulting lobster salad was delicious and would have been just as welcome served cold on a bed of baby greens as warm on a mushroom cap.

I really can't go on enough about how much I enjoyed this dish. Seriously. And...it was only $12. In New York, it would easily have been an $18 appetizer.

My fried calamari was just ok in comparison. The rings were a bit thicker than I'd like, and their coating didn't seem to be seasoned much at all. The accompanying wasabi sour cream and warm tomato sauce were nice, but not quite perfect. I think the sour cream could have benefitted from a bit of thinning. I did like very much, however, the scant few salty morsels of fried zucchini that were buried under the squid.

I had originally wanted the mint pappardelle with lamb ragu, but was told the restaurant did not have the lamb that night and were taking the item off the menu. I then decided to splurge and ordered the other lobster special, described to me as a lobster tail stuffed with roasted cherry tomatoes resting on a bed of lobster risotto studded with crawfish and sauced with lobster bisque. Again, the lobster was perfectly cooked, with a light herbal flavor. The risotto was perfect, creamy and unctuous, with the proper faintly crunchy-centered rice and tasty nuggets of crawfish. The bisque sauce was light and perhaps a bit underseasoned, but full of lobster stock flavor; was nice to see that they had utilized every part of the crustacean between the two lobster dishes.

Mr. Minx's house-made ravioli were stuffed with shredded duck meat and bathed in a strongly meaty brown veal sauce with an unmistakable truffle savor. Despite the deep flavors of the sauce, it was still obvious that the contents of the pasta pillows was indeed duck. All the dish needed was a garnish of duck confit. Heh. Yum. The sauce would have been magnificent on a juicy steak, and despite it's long-simmered bone-rich quality, it did not make our lips stick together (yes, I'm talking to you, Cindy Wolf).

To gild the lily, we had dessert. Mr. Minx's Nutella- and strawberry-stuffed crespelle (crepe) was decadent. My selection of house-made gelato in lavender, pistachio, and tiramisu was some of the best gelato I've had in this town. The lavender, recommended by our server, was a delicate surprised that DH and I both enjoyed.

All of the above was washed down with a singularly unexceptional bottle of white burgundy and lots of ice water (why is it still so hot in October?).

Sotto Sopra is a restaurant we should visit far more often. The decor is charming, the waitstaff is even more so, and the food can be exceptional.

Sotto Sopra
405 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 625-0534

Restaurant Week - Sotto Sopra

It's amazing how few restaurants on the Charles Street corridor, a place largely deserted after the businesspeople and lawyers call it a day, have chosen to participate in Restaurant Week. Last night, Neal and I tried out one of the few that did, Sotto Sopra.

I had been in the space during its former incarnation of...gee, what was it? A hip coffee bar? (I think that was over 10 years ago.) but had never visited the lively Italian restaurant that is there today. Sotto Sopra is in a long, narrow space with high ceilings, the walls painted with festive murals. There's a hip bar at the back, and we were seated at a corner booth table nearby. Monday, fortuitously, happened to be half-price wine night, and I sure needed a drink. Our waiter recommended a Dr. Loosen Riesling that was both sweet and tangy and proved a perfect accompaniment for our meals.

The night's special menu selections were:

Dinner Appetizer (choice of one)
Carrot Soup with wild mushroom & balsamic glaze

Proscuitto di Parma
Imported Prosciutto from Parma with fresh Mozzarella in a Parmesan Basket

Carpaccio di Manzo
Thinly sliced lemon-cured beef served with celery, shaved Parmesan cheese and Lemon-truffle oil dressing

Insalata di Rucola
Baby arugula served with crispy apple-wood smoked bacon, crumbled goat cheese and dried cherries with stone ground mustard-sherry vinaigrette

Dinner Entrée (choice of one)
Risotto di Funghi
Risotto with wild mushrooms served with duck confit and veal demi glaze

Porcini Ravioli
Homemade ravioli stuffed with porcini & mascarpone served with Veal reduction sauce and sautéed frisse'

Petto di Pollo Farcito
Roasted free-range chicken breast stuffed with sage, fig, proscuitto and foccacia served with grilled Peppers Agro dolce and mashed potatoes with an herb reduction sauce

Dinner Dessert (choice of one)
Tiramisu

Fresh Mixed Fruit with Vanilla Bean Gelato

Neal went for the carpaccio, chicken breast, and fruit. I had the salad, risotto, and tiramisu. Everything was scrumptious. The carpaccio was "wafer-thin" and had the subtle flavors of truffle oil and lemon. My salad was very tangy and refreshing - important elements for an appetizer eaten after walking several blocks in the humidity.

The chicken breast was tender and juicy, nicely browned on the outside, with a delicious stuffing. The potatoes were fairly ordinary, and the peppers added a nice sweet and sour touch. My risotto was perfectly cooked, rich and flavorful with wild mushrooms, and the leg of duck confit melted in my mouth. True comfort food.

My tiramisu was perfect - light, fluffy, full of coffee and booze flavors. Neal said his fruit and gelato dish was "refreshing," but I thought it was nothing special. So I shared my tiramisu. :)

Would we visit Sotto Sopra again? Most definitely! The service was fantastic, the food delicious, the space interesting and inviting.

Yay for Restaurant Week. May it be a regular tradition in Baltimore.