A perfect trio

I am always impressed with simple elegance—especially when it comes to food. I experienced it last night, in the tasting plate I had at Soma (pictured).

   
It consists of three tastes arranged lengthwise on a platter: white bean and feta spread, marinated olives (including the delicious big, green, mild ones—Cerignola, I think), and fig tapenade. The arrangement allows the sampler to experience amazingly different bites and textures in succession: creamy/savory, salty/juicy, and sweet and seedy. It was so good I had to go tell the kitchen how blown away we were.

I would call Soma (located on 8th, just off Main) a bistro, since I agree with Wikipedia’s understanding of bistro as “a familiar name for a type of small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in an unpretentious setting.” Others might call it a café, but café doesn’t connote great wines and beers and evening atmosphere to me, which Soma delivers in spades. The warm, mellow light in Soma is fantastic, as is the vibe: relaxed, intimate, yet spacious. The clientele seems interesting, interested, unaffected, and uncontrivedly cool. The room feels like a cross between an artist’s studio and a small warehouse— spare, but not cold.

The tasting plate was by far the best of what I sampled, though the grilled asparagus in truffle oil came close. The tapas menu grounds itself in carefully selected meats and cheeses, which diners can choose by looking at the daily selection on the big blackboard and composing mixed plates. I don’t eat meat, but I definitely get the appeal of this idea.

As for service, things started well but ended indifferently, with our server going off shift without letting us know and perhaps forgetting to inform someone else to take over. I had to tap our new server on the shoulder to get a dessert order in, after waiting for about 15 minutes after our main course plates were cleared. But this may have been an exception; and it won’t put me off going back to Soma again, though perhaps more for a drink and nibble than with the expectation of a full meal.

At least one of Soma’s owners harks from the Bin restaurants, and the chef is Tyler Torrance, ex of Monsoon. Soma is at 151 E 8th Ave—it's definitely worth checking out if you're in town.

Comments

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