Imagine having a Middle Eastern bakery, cafe, and gourmet market and a CSA pick up all in one location? There’s no need to imagine it, just visit Sofra in Cambridge. I had the pleasure of visiting for lunch recently and was amazed. Sofra has been open for 4 years this month. Maura Kilpatrick is one of the owners along with Chef Ana Sortun of Oleana and her business partner there, Gary Griffin.
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Kilpatrick explained that in Arabic, Sofra means generosity and hospitality and it also means a presentation of food. Inspired by the cuisine of Turkey, Lebanon, and Greece, Sofra wants to offer customers a unique food experience that takes them to another place.
Kilpatrick said she encourages the staff to take chances with flavor and challenges them to come up with a new “Sofra” way of doing something that’s already been done. She gave me the example of an everyday food, like a Pop-Tart, and then think about what could be changed about it-add pistachio filling and saffron rose glaze for instance!
I was mesmerized by both the savory and sweet dishes that were rolling out of the kitchen!
When I discussed local ingredients with Kilpatrick, she said that they go out of their way to use local as much as possible. You’ll see a lot of references to Siena Farms in Sofra. This is a farm in Sudbury that is owned by Ana Sortun’s husband and CSA members can pick up their weekly Farm Share right at Sofra.
Sofra will be participating for the second year in the Boston Local Food Festival and Kilpatrick said it was so worth participating in last year. She said that for the upcoming festival, Sofra will be including Ion Island cheese pumpkins and butternut squash from Siena Farms. Kilpatrick also mentioned that she will be using Four Star Farms Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, which is her new favorite!
I asked Kilpatrick what she looks forward to each day at Sofra. She said that it’s creating something new and hopefully teaching the baking staff new things and getting things closer to perfection. She said it’s never done in baking and pastry. I can’t wait to see what Kilpatrick and Sofra comes up with next!
Here’s what I tried: the hummus, olive, and pita platter. And for dessert, I had the famous Earthquakes and iced coffee
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The post was written by Erica Thomas of Boston Rookie, go check her out!
