This week SOHO will complete it’s month-long celebration of American wines. (In case you’re curious, we will showcase the wineries of Spain in August). 

For flight night on Wednesday, July 29, SOHO will spotlight wines from the Qupe Wine Cellars. Located on the Bien Nacido Vineyards in Santa Maria, California, Qupe is dedicated to producing handcrafted Rhône varietals and Chardonnay. Qupe shares a production facility in California's Central Coast region with Jim Clendenen from Au Bon Climat.

SOHO’s Chef Joe, inspired by southern California, has prepared three new tapas plates to be paired with the Qupe varietals.

The wines and tapas below will be featured at flight night on Wednesday, July 29, and highlighted on the menu through Tuesday, August 4.

 

2007 Qupe Marsanne

Grilled Baja redfish taco with shaved lettuces and cilantro sauce

 

2007 Qupe Viognier

Seared ahi tuna with a crisped rice cracker and seaweed salad

 

2007 Qupe Central Coast Syrah

Chicken paillard with olives and roasted peppers

 

Guests may choose to sample the wine flight (three three-ounce tastings, plus a cheese plate) for $17. Alternatively, guests can pair a glass of wine with a small plate for $12.

 

We hope you’ll join us this week for a taste of California.

One of my all-time favorite SOHO indulgences is the chocolate bread pudding. Somehow it manages to be decadent, but not heavy. It is the perfect ending to a meal. Or, if you believe that dessert is a meal in and of itself (which I do), the chocolate bread pudding is an ideal dinner.

 

I’m not alone in my love for the chocolate bread pudding. In fact, Knife and Fork's Christiane Lauterbach once wrote of the dessert, "How could you live with yourself if you missed the softest, most enchanting chocolate bread pudding in town?". Due to it's popularity, SOHO often receives requests for the recipe. With that in mind I thought I’d share it here:

Chocolate bread pudding with clear caramel sauce (serves 8)

 

Ingredients:

 

Bread Pudding

1 quart heavy whipping cream

1 standard loaf of bread – with edges trimmed and pulsed in food processor

11 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips

8 egg yolks

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Caramel Sauce

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

Continue reading →

For flight night on Wednesday, July 22, SOHO is pleased to present wines from Sonoma County's Hartford Court winery.

Located in the Russian River area of Sonoma County, the Hartford Court winery specializes in single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and old vine Zinfandel. SOHO will spotlight each of these varietals, along with tapas inspired by the Sonoma valley.

This week’s featured wines and tapas are:

 

2006 Land’s Edge Pinot Noir

Grilled Sonoma duck breast with wilted greens and California cherries

 

2006 Four Hearts Chardonnay

Flash fried oysters with kim chee and beet salad and chili aioli

 

2006 Russian River Zinfandel

Grilled hanger steak with garbanzos and chimichurri

 

Guests can choose to try the wine flight for $19. This includes three three-ounce tastings and a cheese plate. Or, guests can pair a glass of wine with a small plate for $12. Either way – you can't go wrong!The Sonoma-inspired tapas and Hartford Court wines will be available through July 28.

 

 

The Hartford Court winery

Regular viewers of Iron Chef are familiar with the secret ingredient concept, where top-notch chefs must work a special ingredient, such as bananas or peppers, into a minimum of five dishes.

 

The upcoming Sciabica Olive Oil Dinner at SOHO on Wednesday, July 29, takes a page from the Iron Chef playbook. The dinner will feature a four course meal, with each course showcasing one of the olive oils made by the Sciabica company (for those unfamiliar with Sciabica, this YouTube video offers a brief background). In addition, each dish will be paired with a wine selected by SOHO’s resident wine connoisseur, Bob Matthews. We hope you’ll join us for this special dining experience. The event begins at 6:30pm and the cost is $49 per guest. Please click here for reservations or give us a call at 770.801.0069.

 

Here is the mouth-watering menu (and palate-pleasing wines) guests will enjoy on July 29:

 

First course – featuring Sciabica’s Mission Variety limited release olive oil

Marinated fresh mozzarella stuffed with prosciutto and red pepper. Served with heirloom tomatoes.

Paired with a 2006 J Pinot Gris from Sonoma County, California.

 

Second course – featuring Sciabica’s Sevillano Variety fall harvest olive oil

Sevillano olive oil poached sea bass on a bed on julienne vegetables. Topped with arugula pesto. Paired with a 2007 Qupe Marsanne from Santa Ynez Valley, California.

 

Third course – featuring Sciabica’s Manzanillo Variety fall harvest olive oil

Manzanillo olive oil roasted baby rack of lamb with Peruvian fingerling potatoes and haricots verts. Paired with a 2006 Penfolds Shiraz, Bin 128, from Coonawarra, Australia.

 

Fourth course – featuring Sciabica’s lemon extra virgin olive oil

Lemon olive oil pound cake with lemon-basil olive oil ice cream and candied citrus zest. Paired with a NV Chateau Frank Sparkling Cremant, from Finger Lakes, New York.

In addition to great tasting food and wine, the dinner will also feature brief presentations from Nick Sciabica, SOHO’s executive chef, Joe Ahn, and SOHO’s wine specialist, Bob Matthews.

 

See you on July 29!

Join us Wednesday, July 15, for flight night!

 

This week’s wines come from Oregon winery A to Z Wineworks, winner of Food & Wine Magazine’s award for best American Pinot Noir under $20 in 2008. Oregon, long renowned for exquisite Pinot Noirs, also produces wonderful Pinot Gris, and SOHO has chosen to showcase both varietals this week, along with a red blend. Chef Joe has once again created tapas to complement each wine. This week’s featured wines and tapas are:

 

2005 A to Z Wineworks Red Blend “Night and Day”

Beef tartar with quail egg

 

2007 A to Z Wineworks Pinot Noir

Wild mushroom tart with brussels sprouts

 

2007 A to Z Wineworks Pinot Gris

Dungeness crab cake with citrus aioli

 

For $17, guests receive three three-ounce tastings of the flight wines, paired with a cheese plate. Or, guests can pair a glass of wine with a small plate for $12. Of course, the wines and tapas are available individually as well. These featured wines and small plates will be available through July 21 – enjoy!

As promised, SOHO is spicing up its menu with new items this summer. Chef Joe’s Korean roots have inspired two of the new lunch entrees. First, SOHO is serving a Korean marinated beef and kimchee sandwich, topped with romaine and chili garlic mayonnaise on a hoagie roll. The next lunch menu addition is an Asian Style “Fish and Chips,” featuring a battered and fried catch of the day, sweet potato chips, wasabi tartar and soy dipping sauces. A grilled hanger steak and frites dish served with asparagus and chimichurri sauce rounds out the new lunch offerings.

SOHO’s dinner menu also features two flavorful new items - a grilled Berkshire pork tenderloin, served with roasted fingerling potatoes, grilled peaches, asparagus and a port wine jus, as well as a burgundy braised boneless beef short ribs entree. The short ribs are served with buttered noodles, spinach and tomatoes, and a natural reduction sauce.

 

 

The grilled Berkshire pork tenderloin

 

Whether you are interested in trying our new menu offerings or returning to sample old favorites, such as the calamari or crab and brie quesadilla, we hope you’ll stop in soon. Please click here for online reservations.

Wednesday night is “flight night” at SOHO!

Created to allow guests the chance to enjoy wines from around the world, flight night is the ideal experience for inquisitive wine lovers. This week’s flight features wines from three different wineries in Washington state. For $17, guests receive three three-ounce tastings, accompanied by a cheese plate. Plus, Chef Joe has created three tapas specials, inspired by the geography of Washington, to complement each wine.

A quick look at this week’s featured wines and tapas:

 

2007 Poet’s Leap Riesling

Northwest shellfish cioppino with saffron broth.

 

2007 Barnard Griffin Fume Blanc

Hot smoked sockeye salmon with shaved Washington apple and avocado vinaigrette.

 

2003 Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend 

Elk carpaccio with asiago tuile, arugula and aoili.

 

Can’t join us on Wednesday night? SOHO will feature the wines and tapas above until July 14 (we’ll bring you all new choices on Wednesday, July 15). Guests can sample the small plates and wines individually – or, pair a glass wine with a small plate for only $12.

 

We hope to see you soon!

 A few of my favorite things about summer – the smell of sunscreen, the new Janet Evanovich book (I dare you to read it and not crave junk food of some kind), extra daylight hours for relaxing with family and friends.

 

To celebrate summer, SOHO has begun hosting a Low Down Lobster Boil every Sunday evening. For $25, guests receive a meal of Maine lobster (1 ½ lbs), andouille sausage, fresh corn on the cob, roasted new potatoes and a green salad. Live music and a casual atmosphere help complete the special evening.

SOHO also offers $3 SweetWater 420 pints on Sundays. Sweetwater 420 extra pale ale is local brewery SweetWater’s most popular beer. A tour of the brewery is another fun way to while away the hours on a lazy summer day.

Interested in cracking a lobster and sipping a brew at SOHO on Sunday? We'd love to host you. Reservations are recommended and you can click here to make them online.

Welcome to the SOHO Atlanta blog – your link to the latest news from SOHO restaurant, as well as a few other culinary-related musings.

 

Located in historic Vinings, SOHO is an American Bistro that serves up contemporary cuisine from executive chef Joe Ahn. And, to complement Chef Joe’s food, SOHO offers an extensive wine menu. Whether you’re a wine novice or expert, it’s likely you’ll easily find a glass to satisfy your palate. For those not entirely familiar with SOHO, I invite you to read the recent review from The Sunday Paper.

 

In the coming months, SOHO will be offering new menu items, specialty drinks, and events to keep your dining experience fresh and interesting. I’ll be blogging about them here, so stay tuned.

 

A quick word about me – your SOHO blogger. I am a server at SOHO. I worked at the restaurant from 2005 to 2006, before I detoured into the corporate world. I was lucky enough to rejoin the SOHO serving team in April 2009.

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to post below or email me.

Located in Vinings, Georgia, SOHO is an American Bistro serving contemporary cuisine from executive chef Joe Ahn. SOHO also offers a full bar and extensive wine menu. Owners Frank and Susan Smith, along with a knowledgeable staff, aim to provide a truly pleasurable dining experience.

Hours of Operation: 

 

Lunch:

Monday – Friday         11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

 

Dinner:

Monday to Thursday    5:30 p.m – 10:00 p.m

Friday, Saturday         5:30 p.m – 11:00 p.m

Sunday                       5:00 p.m – 9:00 p.m

 

Address:

4300 Paces Ferry Road SE

Atlanta, GA 30339

 

Phone:

(770) 801-0069

 

Online reservations