soma
1st Course: Teriyaki scallops like butter melting in my mouth, sweet brown sugar contrasting against the salt to awaken your mouth, accented by a side of wasabi mashed potatoes. Adam and Danny, the owners of Soma, have worked hard together to get this restaurant up off the ground. Going broke several times, having a car stolen, and attempting to fit everything in to the tiny (and highly organized) kitchen were only some of the obstacles they faced. “When we came to Williamsburg, we knew this was where we wanted to open a restaurant,” Danny said. “It was the right place to be.”
2nd Course: Crab Rangoon with plum sauce. A hefty mixture of crab meat and cream cheese with garlic, ginger, and scallion in fried dough. Creamy, mellow, tasty, and not overpowering. Delectable. Their friend (and architect) Cory Kessler designed their restaurant, working wonders in a confined area to give the impression of space. Square wood panels hang on the walls, allowing black border to show behind them. The kitchen in front is displayed through large windows to people passing by on the sidewalk. “We did the construction ourselves,” Adam said. “It turned out exactly as we hoped: warm, comfortable, even-feeling, and part of us.”
3rd Course: An assortment of personal pizzas: 1) Philly Cheese Steak – onions, thin roast beef, and provolone – exactly like a sandwich from the City of Brotherly Love; 2) Vegetarian Pizza of the Day – sun-dried tomato puree, mozzarella, roasted peppers, and sweet Vidalia onions, that create an undercover sweet creamy beautiful taste; and 3) Smoked Salmon – creamed goat cheese, salmon, capers, tomatoes, and an “everything bagel crust” making a gourmet pizza version of a bagel and lox. “The food is a constant work in progress,” Adam said, “and I hope it never stops being that way.” He tries to keep it simple, using basic ingredients to make “good food put together well.”
4th Course: Goat cheese encrusted in toasted almonds with sweet grape tomatoes and greens to offer off-setting tastes. A warm dish with the taste of nuts hitting your palette right before the cheese sets off another wave of flavor. Pop a tomato in your mouth and put a burst of freshness in the mix. “We don’t have any freezers,” Danny said, “which makes us get fresh ingredients every day, which makes for better food.” Their herbs come from two houses down where they tend a garden.
5th Course: Tomato bisque. This might be their signature dish and is a must-have soup made from shallots, heavy cream, and oven-dried tomatoes coated in brown sugar. It is filling and leaves you contented. Adam and Danny are looking into extending the restaurant having an outside garden out back. They also are planning on introducing a new menu tailored for artists’ budgets, and hopefully, their tastes. As it is now, all their dishes are under $10.
Dessert: Fried banana with vodka and syrup-drenched diced strawberries, with chocolate inside. Sweet, lovely, and warm. Even with all the trouble and travails of opening a restaurant on your own, all the consequences of taking a risk, and trying something you really want to do without any guarantees of success, both Adam and Danny agree that “if they had to start over tomorrow and do it all again, they’d do it immediately.”