Sofia Wants to Be a Different Kind of Italian Restaurant

Sofia, opening later in January, takes a different approach to Italian cooking. It's not the sauce-heavy style entrenched in New Orleans food culture. Nor does it follow the more recent approach of exploring the traditional dishes of a particular section of Italy. 

"We're not tied to any region," said chef Max Mackissock. "It always starts with an Italian ingredient or technique." Mackissock is a partner in Denver's Culinary Creative Group. For Sofia, the company teamed up with New Orleans' Billy Blatty, owner of Barcadia and Ohm Lounge. 

Talia Diele is Sofia's executive chef. The seasonal menu incorporates many of the most popular dishes from Bar Dough, one of Culinary Creative's Denver restaurants. The offerings include a carrot salad with chickpeas and carrot cumin vinaigrette, squid ink tagliarini with mussels and squid, Gulf fish with eggplant caponata and bisteca di Milanase with salsa verde. Vegetables and heartier, composed salads are prominent, along with Gulf seafood and local produce.

Wood-fired pizzas include a spicy clam, a Margherita and a white pizza with fennel sausage and creamed leeks. "We don't tie ourselves to Italian cuisine, but we respect it," Mackissock said in an earlier interview. The Warehouse District space, next to the Auction House Market and down the block from Donald Link's upcoming Italian restaurant Gianna, is bright and casual.

Artwork and projected photos celebrating the Italian actress Sophia Loren decorate the dining room. Hope Clarke, a veteran of Cochon and the Catahoula Hotel, oversees the drinks.

The wine list features "gulpable" wines either from Italy or made with Italian varietals. Clarke also created a house-blended amaro infused with orange, rosemary, mint, and Spanish paprika. Sofia will open at first for dinner only.

A happy hour will be added the second week, and lunch will start in the spring. Opening: Jan. 29 On the menu: Carne crudo with anchovy dressing; carrot salad with puffed farro and pine nuts; squid ink tagliarini with mussels and squid; Gulf shrimp scampi; wood-fired pizzas (see the full menu online; prices were not yet available

Need to know: The new restaurant created the Sofia Foundation, which will give $30,000 to an underserved New Orleans student who plans to study music in college.

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