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AT OUR TABLE

Sofia, great restaurant, shows off new menu

What’s in a name? When that name is Sofia, attached to a restaurant, you know it has to be good.

Named after Sophia Loren, recently voted the most attractive person in the world, Emilio Figueroa’s eatery on 355 San Francisco is pure ambrosia.

The food is artistically combined with goat cheese, and even the drinks created by head bartender Alexander Ortiz are enhanced with fresh herbs. There’s Cosa Nostra, a delightful mix of Chambord (raspberry liqueur), cointreau (an orange-flavored liqueur) a splash of pineapple juice.

Another drink, Il Soprano, combines Ketel One Citroen, a dash of Campari, splash of cranberry juice, and sour in a sugar-rimmed glass. The sour is made on the premises, as is all the pasta, bread, and other basics, and you can tell.

Other tasty treats were vine-grown sweet and juicy tomatoes with a Humble Fog goat cheese, a special California version of the soft cheese aged with ash running through it. A tasty appetizer, , created by chef Amelia Fitch, was a fried ravioli, a crispy finger food filled with roasted pork and cheese. Fitch signed a menu saying she hoped to “touch your heart with… my passion and creativity.”

Main courses include a dish of grouper and gnocchi made with goat cheese, osso bucco with creamy polenta, a ensational was churrasco served on a bed of cannelloni stuffed with wild mushrooms and ITAL sauce soubise ITAL, made of shallots. The only possible choice of beverage for this rib-sticking cold-weather dish was a rich red wine.

Because the food is prepared with light ingredients and a deft touch by Executive Chef Dustin Adoitue, a native of Guam, there is always room for the ITAL piece de resistance ITAL, a fluffy Tiramisu Peroline made with a crunchy white-chocolate cookie, To cap off this eating marathon, what could be better than a rich foaming cup of Sofia’s cappuccino for the road?

Sofia Italian Kitchen and Bar is located at 355 San Francisco St. in Old San Juan. Its telephone number is 787-721-0396.

Le Bistro de Paris, magnifique!
That great intimate, cozy little Le Bistro just got bigger, but better.

On Nov. 15, it moved to De Diego Street, just behind the Performing Arts Center, and steps away from the Puerto Rico Art Museum.

And it’s open until late after any concert, whatever the day.

This Christmas, Le Bistro will repeat that French tradition, ITAL Buche de Noël, or Christmas log, with its Génoise ITAL dough, filled with a chocolate or coffee ganache and covered with chocolate icing and nuts and decorated with holly.

While owners David Chaymol and Thierry Du Pont couldn’t be more French, and the Evian water and Moet& Chandon champagne bubbling through the Sunday brunch are the essence of gallic sophistication, any lover of good food, service and ambiance will feel right at home.

The De Diego Street restaurant, which will eventually replace the original one in Miramar, is twice as large, but with the same amount of seating. And while there is more room to feel the ITAL joie de vivre ITAL, the capacity has remained unchanged at 70.

Chaymol has expanded the brunch menu, to include a mini filet mignon, wrapped in bacon, potatoes and fried eggs for $21. For $8, he serves a basket of Viennoiserie, pastry. The rest at $15, include , Saumon Gravlax, with blinis, fresh Belgian waffle with strawberries and nutella, six oysters, Classic Eggs Benedict, Brioche, Country Style Omelette, Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and a bagel, French Toast.

“I love brunch,” said Chaymol, as the sounds of happy diners swirled around one Sunday afternoon. “There is something for everybody.”

He explained that the bistro concept is not ITAL grande cuisine ITAL but “just like eating at your place,”or ITAL chez vous, ITAL if you prefer.

One special attraction is a vegetarian pasta plate with zucchini, eggplant, tomato and onion, “a lot of vegetables.

Everyone seems to gravitate towards onion soup at any time of day, he said.

“We make it differently, by putting in a little sweetness; then we put lots of Swiss cheese on top,” said Chaymol. “People love that.”

All the desserts (for which there is a special menu) are made on the premises, and all sell for $8. They include the favorite Crème Brulée, the Tarte au chocolat and tarte au citron, chocolate and lemon tarts, as well as traditional tarts, with pears, apples and banana with chocolate.

The restaurant is located on Ave. De Diego 310, behind the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center and a block from the Puerto Rico Art Museum. Their telephone number is (787) 998-8929. They are open Tuesday and Wednesday and Sunday from 12 noon to 10 p.m., Thursday, from noon to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight.



Chocolate is great for your heart
This is what Richart chocolate looks like this month
Dynamic Nanette Rosa Collazo, who once preferred to be behind the scenes than on the film screen is busy dishing up chocolate for the month of love. For years, she was in film production, including producer of Jaboco Morales’ “Linda Sara” in 1994, “The Pérez Family” and “La Guagua aérea” in 1995, and “Amistad”in 1997.
 
Of late, she has become a partner in Puerto Rico’s first Richart Chocolatier. Richart Design et Chocolat boutique on Condado Avenue. .In 2004, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Film Commission, but has recently given more time to chocolating, especially on Valentine’s Day, the best time of the year to enjoy this delicious treat.