NO LONGER IN BUSINESS
Chez Sofie
Chez Sofie
50 boulevard Provencher
204-942-4142
http://www.chezsophie.ca/
Three things associate with Winnipeg : arctic winters, mosquitoes, and
complainers. When you put a restaurant
on a bridge, you enable two of the qualities:
complaints about walking and complaints about the cold while
walking. In response, I’ve always told
people that you often have to park farther away at some of the more popular
restaurants. How far away do you park to
walk to the patio on the Forks? Where
can you find parking along Corydon on a weekend? Where do you park to get into St. Vital in
November or December? None of that
matters but when you put a restaurant in the middle of a bridge, people feel
lost without an umbilical to their cars.
Today I eat my words as a torrential downfall punished us as
we started to embark onto the Esplanade Riel.
Karma has a funny way of punishing the champions sometimes—although I
wished for a drop-off zone today, I maintain that a short walk over a beautiful
bridge should not dissuade you from going to Chez Sofie.
I’ve been through much of Europe and
most of France . Among the beautiful things, great drinks and
wonderful foods that stuck in my mind, one thorn remains: the slow and lackadaisical service. I wonder if Sofie tries to emulate that
ambiance since nary a server approaches our table, a full half hour after we
sat down! Imagine sitting there for 30
minutes and no one comes to offer you a drink!
I’m used to that in France
but Canada ?! Granted, the table comes with a full bottle
of water but a glass of wine always eases the distress when you drip from head
to toe. To their credit, two members of
our party were (very) late but that’s no excuse to ignore those who are
present.
Things pick up after a server finally arrives. Dinner starts with sour bread. The fluffy center coupled beautifully with
the crispy crust. This is a wonderful
bread; the only thing that could have made it better is if it came out when it
was still oven-warm.
The mains come with soup and salad; that already sounds like
a lot of food but the appetiser special sounds too good to resist. I’m glad I didn’t resist as the plump and
juicy frogs’ legs eagerly jump from plate to mouth. Lightly fried and breaded, there’s just
enough heat to ensure that they come cooked and moist. The legs ran through a bit too much salt,
otherwise, they’re as good as it gets. The
legs look like they caused a bit of a ruckus on the plate though, as the
accompanying vegetables look like they’ve been kicked around for a while.
The presentation could use a bit of
attention. For those unaware: frog does not taste like chicken—they taste
like frog. If you must compare, they’re
gamier than chicken, have a bit of a wild taste, and a hint of the sea.
The basic house salad comes with fresh, crisp vegetables and
dressing in a cute dispenser on the side.
The sweetish dressing tastes light and tangy, making for a nice summer
intro. This tantaliser is especially
nice if you intend to have something heavier for a main.
The Steak in Peppercorn Sauce comes smothered in a light,
tasty sauce, although there’s no pepper taste to it at all, and a curious lack
of peppercorns. Sofie grills the meat
nicely, complete with a seared exterior and inside done to your desire. Although they use New York AA, this steak
tastes surprisingly tough. By no means
does it chew like leather but it definitely doesn’t have the tenderness you
expect out of a strip loin steak. The
accompanying hand-cut fries come grease-free and taste al dente! This is a perfect way to fry potatoes where
they are barely cooked and you get a hint of a crunch in the texture.
The red wine sauce covers the Bœuf Bourguignon. The beef cubes taste nicely stewed and
tender. The sauce has the winey edge but
needs more depth. The menu boasts
carrots and onions but I see neither vegetables. It definitely needs more of the mirepoix to
give body and depth to this sauce. The
scalloped potatoes taste competent and well-cooked. There’s a lot of it, enough where I couldn’t
finish—although if the sauce had more depth, I might have used it as a conduit
to soak up the rest of it.
Chez Sofie has lived on the bridge for a while now but they
still need to file away some rough edges; however, they have a lot of good
qualities here and I hope they can thrive here.
Winnipeg deserves a great
restaurant on its iconic landmark and Sofie has the unique opportunity to be
both a local favourite and a must-see for travellers.
***¼ /5
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