Sopa - Highwood - chef Joseph Wojciechowski

Sopa hasn't been open very long but that didn't seem to affect operations too much during our meal there last week. The full-to-capacity dining room was under control and not chaotic. Reservationed parties were backed up a few minutes but we were seated at our 4-top by 7:40, no more than 10 minutes after the appointed time. I hate when I have to wait after arriving on time but 10 minutes isn't a big deal. It would have been nice however, if, after being shown to the bar, the house would have offered to buy our drinks. They didn't but I'd hardly call that sort of thing egregious, so I did my best to let it go.

Through the pass leading to the semi-open kitchen, Chef Wojciechowski (formerly at Michael in Winnetka) appeared to have a firm command on things (it must be hard to work like that, being in view of the entire dining room). Tables were being served their complete orders and I didn't see any plates being sent back to the kitchen, which was a good sign. There were really no signs, observing the overall behavior of the room, that this was a new restaurant. Good management.

Sopa Mediterranean Kitchen may be a bit of a misnomer. The food was pretty straightforward, contemporary American with some obvious French influences. Yes, there were some more familiar-as-Mediterranean touches in there too but Sopa, which translates to soup, seemed like an odd moniker, as there was only one soup on the menu and it was listed in the 'Salads' section. Overall, I didn't find the offerings particulary distinctive; more safe than anything else.

An appetizer of crispy sautéed sweetbreads, port wine truffle sauce was tasty, well-prepeard and generous in portion. It was served over a mound of whipped potatoes, which made the helping more filling than anticipated. The sweetbreads were indeed crispy and the individual flavors were distinctive, although the truffle note, probably derived from truffle oil, began to cloy after a while. Another starter of sauteed shrimp and scallop was up and down. The scallop was tender, rich and buttery but the shrimp, while nicely grilled, had a somewhat acrid note.

I was a bit disappointed when the main dish of roasted bone-in chicken breast with crimini-asparagus ragout and chive whipped potatoes immediately struck the exact same truffle note as the sweetbread appetizer. There was no mention on the menu of truffle in the description of the chicken dish. This was an airline breast, served atop a flavorful ragout, which would have been even better if it had been a leg quarter. Still it wasn't too dry, and the seasoning was bold and the skin was crispy. A special of veal medallion Napoleon was tasty but non-descript. Happily, there was no truffle present. The sausage, which was featured in an entree of Rigatoni with spicy sausage, sweet peas, garbanzos and mascarpone marinara, was tasty with a strong fennel note.

Desserts were mixed. There were 5 choices but only 2 of them looked even remotely interesting to us. The warm pumpkin torte with candied pecans and rum-raisin gelato was well-received by a few at our table but I thought the rum note in the ice cream was way too strong. The chocolate hazelnut cake with crème Anglaise was cold, crumbly and pretty much devoid of flavor. Having avoided ordering the other chocolate dessert on the menu because it contained fruit, it was annoying to find fruit -- unmentioned on the menu -- in this dessert.

Service at our table was, if anything, too thorough. Many times, it felt like staff were hovering around the table. I'd describe water service as aggressive. Our waitress was friendly but based on the number of times she came to the table before we ordered, we felt a bit hurried. Wine service was fine to start but we ended up having to pour our own as the meal progressed. Having the check dropped on the table with the desserts was clearly a miscue but the overall friendliness of the waitress mitigated it to a large degree. A conversation with the manager made it clear that finding a few more professional servers -- no easy feat in the suburbs -- is a top priority. 4 appetizers, 4 entrees, 1 bottle of wine, 2 desserts, tax and tip totalled just over $300.

Can't say I'll be back and I can't say I won't. I'm not feeling compelled in either direction. I guess time will tell. The space, especially for being located in a strip mall, is pretty nice. The food was tasty if not spectacular. But that's a lot of bucks to drop on a less-than-stellar meal, so maybe I'll wait to read some more positive feedback before returning. At least one thing's clear: the management team is solid. Nothing about this experience made us feel like the place was new. There's some polish and experience here, which will definitely be important factors in what comes next for Sopa.

=R=

Sopa Mediterranean Kitchen
752 Sheridan Rd.
Highwood, IL 60040
847 433-3434

...Sopa, which translates to soup, seemed like an odd moniker, as there was only one soup on the menu and it was listed in the 'Salads' section.

Sopa can also translate to "bread" or any bread-like substance that is used to dip into, or "sop up" a liquid. I haven't been to Sopa, but if there's something significant about the bread, or if in general the dishes have some kind of delicious sauce or liquid that deserves to be cleaned off the plate, that may be what's behind the name.

Kennyz wrote:

...Sopa, which translates to soup, seemed like an odd moniker, as there was only one soup on the menu and it was listed in the 'Salads' section.

Sopa can also translate to "bread" or any bread-like substance that is used to dip into, or "sop up" a liquid. I haven't been to Sopa, but if there's something significant about the bread, or if in general the dishes have some kind of delicious sauce or liquid that deserves to be cleaned off the plate, that may be what's behind the name.

Thanks, Kenny, for the information. The bread wasn't amazing but it wasn't general issue either. Still, what made me think "soup" was a comment card we were given at the end of the meal (with the bill) which contained one question, and it was a question about our favored soups. I got the feeling that this information was being gathered so that, maybe, some of the more popular soups could eventually be added to the menu.

=R=