Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Sotta Sopra on Sunday, August 8

Those of you who did not carpool with us to Sotto Sopra on Sunday missed a great evening.  Sotta Sopra is a Contemporary Italian restaurant located on Charles Street next to the Basilica.  It has a casual, yet aristocratic atmosphere.  It's walls are full of shiny mirrors and fancy murals creating an atmosphere of an Italian restaurant from long ago.

They are unique in that their menus for these special events are authored by a group of young Italian chefs, whom interchange with other chefs every eighteen months.  This switch helps the flow of new and more inventive dishes.  Our chef for the evening was Serrick McNeill, who intends to open his own restaurant one day and currently has thrown his hat into the catering ring.

Our menu for the evening consisted of four courses, starting with Gazpacho, then Risotto served with Shrimp, Mussels & Calamari in a tomato bisque, then Beef Braciole with capers, olives, tomatoes and white wine served with potato lasagna.  The last course was a wonderful Vanilla Pana Cotta with mixed berries compote.  Everything we ate was excellent. 

This particular special event was a tribute to the Italian Classics.  We were serenaded between courses by Tenor, Elio Scaccio, who walked between the tables singing his renditions of the old Italian songs. With four courses of food, the break in between each course while we listened to Elio's music, enabled us to make room for each upcoming course. Elio also had two additional vocalists join him, who either sang alone or in duets with Elio. The members of Second Chancers who attended said they had not experienced an event like this before, and all agreed it was wonderful.

Sotta Sopra is one of the top 10 restaurants in Baltimore. Their regular menu is extensive and if you have never been there before, you must try it some time.  We hope to go there again for one of their special events, such as their wine tasting event or one of their opera nights.