Monthly Archives: February 2010

SOHO Spotlight: European Wine and Tapas

23 Tuesday Feb 2010

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SOHO will finish its tour of the European Union on flight night Wednesday, February 24, featuring wines and flavors of Austria, Portugal and Spain.

 

Rioja_vineyards2 Rioja Vineyards in Spain

 

First, SOHO will pour a 2008 Huber Gruner Veltliner from Austria. SOHO’s resident wine expert, Lars Snavely, explains that he discovered the Gruner Veltliner on a trip to Austria and immediately fell in love with the versatile, refreshing wine. However, when he returned to Atlanta he couldn’t find it anywhere. Four or five years later, it became more commonly exported to Atlanta and was soon highly in demand at local retailers. We hope you'll enjoy it with us this week!

 

SOHO will also offer a 2005 Domini Douro from Portugal. Lars notes that Portugal’s dry red table wines, such as the Douro, are only now beginning to receive well-deserved recognition. The grapes for the Domin Douro are grown in northern Portugal on vines that average 20 years in age. The wine features flavors of blackberries, dark plums and vanilla.

 

Finally, SOHO will pour a 1996 Faustino I Gran Reserva Rioja from Spain. This Rioja is exceptional. By law, to be labeled a Gran Reserva, the wine must be aged at least two years in oak. Many producers then age the wine for several more years in a bottle, as is the case with this Rioja (the 1996 is a current release). Taste-wise, the Rioja is complex, with flavors of fruit and soft tannins.

 

Chef Joe has created three new tapas plates to complement each European Union wine. The following wines and tapas will be available through March 3:

 

2008 Huber Gruner Veltliner, Austria

Weiner Schnitzel served with spinach spaetzle and roasted lemon

 

2005 Domini Douro, Portugal

Grilled hanger steak served with roasted acorn squash and a fig wine sauce

 

1996 Faustino I Gran Reserva Rioja, Spain

Paella with chorizo, duck confit, roasted peppers and sweet peas

 

Sample each wine in a flight (three three-ounce glasses and a cheese plate) for $18. Or, pair a wine and tapas for $12. Of course, the wines and tapas are available individually as well ($9/glass and $6/tapas). See you soon!

Best of Atlanta Party Serves Up a Spectacular Evening

23 Tuesday Feb 2010

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On Monday, February 22, SOHO was thrilled to participate in Atlanta magazine’s 23rd Annual Best of Atlanta Party at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The evening featured over fifty restaurants and fifteen open bars, all offering an array of appetizers, entrees, desserts and creative cocktails.

 

Chef Joe and team (me included!) served up small plates of burgundy braised short ribs to hundreds of party attendees – and received many rave reviews in return. Other treats of the night included decadent mini-cupcakes from The Cookie Studio (the red velvet cupcake was melt-in-your mouth good), as well as savory cuts of meat from Fogo de Chao, and a tasty Atlanta Fizz drink from Drinkshop.

 

Best of all, the evening included a silent auction full of amazing prizes with proceeds benefiting Camp Twin Lakes –a network of camps providing life-changing camp experiences to thousands of Georgia's children with serious illnesses, disabilities, and other challenges. Over the past thirteen years, Atlanta magazine's Best of Atlanta Party has raised more than $2 million for Camp Twin Lakes.

 

Best of Atlanta Party Silent Auction benefiting Camp Twin Lakes. (Picture from AtlantaMagazine.com)

 

An evening full of food, music, exceptional chefs, and fun guests – all benefiting a great cause – what more could one ask for?

SOHO’s European Adventure

16 Tuesday Feb 2010

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SOHO travels to Greece, France, and Spain for flight night of Wednesday, February 17.

 

Wine glass w-EU kiss (post)  

 

First, SOHO will pour a 2005 Mibal Bodegas Hornillo Ballesteros. Only 400 cases of this wine, produced in Spain, were exported to the US. The wine is a ‘garage-wine’ meaning it is handcrafted, and not produced in a multi-million dollar winery. The wine is very deep in color and rich in flavor.

 

SOHO will also offer a 2008 Skouras Moschofilero from Greece. In the States, Moschofilero helped change people’s opinions regarding Greek wines (often thought to be expensive and not very noteworthy). The Moscholfilero from Skouras is similar to an unoaked Chardonnay. Finally, SOHO will pour a 2008 Cave de Saumur from France. One hundred percent Cabernet Franc, this wine offers a rich bouquet with flavors of black currant and raspberry.

 

Chef Joe has created three tapas plates to pair with each exceptional wine. The following wines and tapas will be available through February 24.

 

2008 Skouras Moschofilero, Greece

100% Moschofilero

Grilled chicken souvlaki, feta-stuffed roasted peppers with lemon and olive oil

 

2008 Cave de Saumur, France

100% Cabernet Franc

Grilled lamb loin with fava beans, sundried tomatoes and rosemary butter

 

2005 Mibal Bodegas Hornillo Ballesteros, Spain

100% Tempranillo

Braised pork shank, potato and ham croquette with a natural reduction

 

Sample each wine in a flight (three three-ounce glasses and a cheese plate) for $18. Or, pair a wine and tapas for $12. Of course, the wines and tapas are available individually as well ($9/glass and $6/tapas). See you soon!

Spotlight On: Dessert Wines

16 Tuesday Feb 2010

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Wine expert Lars Snavely joined SOHO’s team a few months back and has been enhancing our wine knowledge – and palates – ever since. This week, he’s shared a few insights on dessert wines.

 

Dessert wines are often expensive because producing a dessert wine requires concentrated juice with plenty of natural sugars. The grapes for dessert wine production must be very small. Therefore, more grapes are needed to produce the wines. Birds and weather also make producing dessert wines expensive. Birds love to eat the sweet grapes and, because the grapes have to stay on the vines longer, there’s a chance of killing frosts and too much rain, which causes the grapes to swell. All these factors lead to the higher cost of dessert wines.

 

Despite their expense, almost all wine producing countries produce dessert wines. The most famous, and costly, are from Bordeaux’s Sauternes regions. One very good, and affordable, dessert wine from France is the Chateau Doisy -Vedrines Sauternes. Another region of France well-known for dessert wines is Alsace. The Tribach Vendanges Tardives (or late harvest) wines are well-regarded.

 

California also produces many dessert wines, often using the Black Muscat grape. Robert Mondavi’s 2006 Moscato d’Oro is a good dessert wine from California – it is produced with the Muscat Canelli grape.

 

 Muscat (post)  Muscat Canelli grapes on the vine

 

Finally, consider a dessert wine from Hungary. In Hungary, the sweetness and quality of the wines are designated as 3, 4, 5 and 6 puttonyos. Puttonyos are the containers the harvested grapes fill as they are being picked. The numbers refer to how many puttonyos it takes to fill a 136 liter barrel. The more it takes - the smaller the grapes, thus the wine is more intense and sweeter. Lars recommends a five-puttonyo wine. Royal Tokaji’s Aszu 5 Puttonyos wine is one good choice.

 

We hope you’ll stop in soon to sample SOHO’s wine list – whether looking for a Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc or dessert wine, we have something to suit your palate!

SOHO’s European Expedition Continues

09 Tuesday Feb 2010

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SOHO continues its European exploration on flight night, Wednesday, February 10. This week’s wines and flavors come from France, Portugal, and Italy.

 

Douro Terraced vineyards in Douro, Portugal

 

One of the wines SOHO will pour this week is a 2007 Kermit Lynch Cotes du Rhone from France. One interesting tidbit about this wine? It is sourced from various vineyards and proudcers. As many reading this blog might know, a negociant is a wine merchant who assembles the produce of smaller growers and winemakers and sells the result under its own name. Kermit Lynch is one merchant who works with high quality barrels from different producers and creates a blend all their own. The result is an exceptional, high-quality Cotes du Rhone.

SOHO will also pour a 2008 Polvanera Primitivo from Italy. The varietal was named by a priest in the late 18 century, who noted that fruit for certain vines matured earlier than others. He called these Primitivo, from the Latin Primativus, which means first to open. The Povanera Primitivo is full of bright flavors and spice notes. Finally, SOHO will pour a 2006 Carm Red Dura from Portugal. This wine has a good balance of acid and fruite and a nice finish.

To complement each European wine, SOHO’s Chef Joe has created three new tapas plates. The following wines and tapas will be available until February 17.

 

2006 Carm Red Dura, Douro, Portugal

Grilled Berkshire pork tenderloin with stewed white beans and cranberry jus

 

2007 Kermit Lynch Cotes du Rhone, France

60% Grenache and 40% Syrah

Braised beef short ribs with diced vegetables and an herbed puffed pastry

 

2008 Polvanera Primitivo, Italy

Cherry balsamic glazed Magret duck breast with butternut squash gnocchi and nutmeg cream

 

Sample each wine in a flight (three three-ounce glasses and a cheese plate) for $18. Or, pair a wine and tapas for $12. Of course, the wines and tapas are available individually as well ($9/glass and $6/tapas). See you soon!

 

 

 

Gluten-Free Menus at SOHO

09 Tuesday Feb 2010

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SOHO is happy to let our gluten-free guests know that we have varied – and delicious – gluten-free menus available for lunch and dinner.

 

Our gluten-free lunch and dinner menus feature two delectable soups– SOHO’s chicken tortilla soup (with avocado, tomatoes, corn, cheese, chilies and lime), as well as our seasonal butternut squash soup.  We also offer three gluten-free salads – including a spinach salad (with red onion, egg and a bacon vinaigrette) and a house-made fresh mozzarella and tomato salad.

 

Gluten-free lunch entrées include the noodle bowl (noodles, shrimp, chicken, bok choy and Chinese five spice chicken broth), as well as the maple grilled salmon salad (maple-glazed salmon filet over field greens with a key lime vinaigrette) and a grilled hanger steak salad (with mixed greens, grilled portabellas, red onion, tomatoes and white balsamic vinaigrette).

 

SOHO’s gluten-free dinner menu features six entrees, including a blackened wild grouper served with red rice and a crawfish buerre blanc and seasonal vegetables, as well as our Berkshire pork tenderloin served with roasted fingerling potatoes, asparagus and a pomegranate molasses. The Painted Hills beef short ribs, served with Yukon mashed potatoes, sautéed spinach and tomatoes, and a natural reduction sauce are another delicious gluten-free entrée choice.

 

Hungry yet? SOHO’s full gluten-free lunch menu can be found here and gluten-free dinner menu can be found here. We hope you’ll join us soon!

SOHO Begins European Tour

02 Tuesday Feb 2010

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SOHO is traveling overseas for flight night this month! We’ll be featuring wines and flavors of the European Union beginning with flight night on Wednesday, February 3.

 

Priorat_hillside(1)Vineyards on a hillside in Priorat, Spain 

 

This week, we’ll showcase wines from France, Italy, and Spain. First, SOHO will pour a 2008 Hugues Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet from Coteaux du Languedoc, France – a white wine that pairs well with fresh shellfish and seafood. Taste-wise, the Picpoul offers flavors of lime with crisp acidity.

 

SOHO will also offer a 2007 Camerano Dolcetto D’Alba from Piedmont, Italy. The grapes for this wine are planted alongside vineyards that are otherwise devoted exclusively to the cultivation of Nebbiolo for Barolo. The result is a Dolcetto that is full bodied, rich, and one of the most stunning examples of Dolcetto produced in Piemonte. Only 650 cases of this exceptional wine were produced, and it is not to be missed!

 

Finally, SOHO will pour a 2005 Vega Escal Morlanda Viticultors del Priorat from Priorat, Spain. Priorat is not an easy place to grow grapes, as the soil is stony and the climate is hot and dry. Wines produced in the Priorat can be excellent, but very expensive. The Morlanda is a rich, enjoyable wine from the region, according to SOHO's resident wine expert, Lars Snavely.

 

To complement each European wine, Chef Joe has created three new tapas plates. The following will be available through February 10:

 

2008 Hugues Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet (Coteaux du Languedoc, France)

Steamed littleneck clams in a roasted shellfish-fennel broth

 

2007 Camerano Dolcetto D’Alba (Piedmont, Italy)

Grilled mini pizza with pancetta, roasted peppers and fontina cheese

 

2005 Vega Escal Morlanda Viticultors del Priorat (Priorat, Spain)

Grilled marinated flat iron steak, roasted fingerlings and black plum BBQ sauce

 

Sample each wine in a flight (three three-ounce glasses and a cheese plate) for $18. Or, pair a wine and tapas for $12. Of course, the wines and tapas are available individually as well ($9/glass and $6/tapas). See you soon!

Happy Anniversary Chef Joe!

02 Tuesday Feb 2010

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This month, SOHO is saying ‘thank you’ to executive Chef Joe Ahn for ten years of culinary excellence. Chef Joe will celebrate his tenth anniversary as SOHO’s top chef on February 23. To mark the occasion, SOHO is offering guests a special $10 wine and tapas pairing from February 23 through February 27. The pairing will feature Caribbean-style Day Boat Scallops served with sweet caramelized plantains, a mango and fresh citrus salsa, and a drizzle of extra virgin lemon olive oil. The featured wine will be a 2008 Hugues Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet from Coteaux du Languedoc, France.

 

Chef Joe’s interest in cuisine began at a young age, as he spent time in his parent’s restaurant in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1991. He’s held positions at numerous notable restaurants including Veni Vidi Vicci, Pricci, Brooklyn Café and Adams at the Fox.

 

Calamari (blog)Chef Joe's famous calamari

 

Upon arriving at SOHO a decade ago, Chef Joe immediately began serving up savory fare. His tempura calamari with ginger-soy glaze has been a favorite of SOHO regulars and first time diners since it was added to the menu a decade ago. Today, Chef Joe’s menu reflects a wide range of influences, from Korean to Southern. No matter the dish, Chef Joe’s menu is sure to please your palate. We hope you’ll stop in soon to help us celebrate his ten year anniversary!