The day had already been a rip-roaring success having to its credit the monumental tasting of Romanian wines at Wine With Me, followed by a similarly spectacular traditional Romanian lunch at the historical Restaurant Casa Doina. Now, after a period of rest, we reconvened in the hotel lobby to venture off on the next steps Off the Beaten Path with Zoltan Szabo. Our original team remained intact.
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| The Team: Daniel Topan, Zoltan Szabo, and Author (Picture taken at a subsequent date) |
After a fair amount of driving -- and an equal amount of chatter -- we arrived at our destination: Soro Lume. Wanderhog.com describes this locale as "a charming restaurant ... housed in a beautiful neoromanian-style old building ... Owned by Chef Mihai Toader and Melinda Teohari, the restaurant aims to serve delicious open-flame cooked food that changes with the seasons."
On arriving, we walked through a narrow gate into a leafy, open courtyard which terminated at a bar beyond which was an open flame. Zoltan engaged in a meaty hug with someone whom I eventually came to realize was the Chef/Owner Milhai.
After the greetings and salutations in the courtyard, we were led upstairs into a more serene, less light-intense environment. This was the "neoromanian-style old house" of which wanderhog.com had spoken. We were seated in a cozy corner where we could fully soak up the ambience of the environment while still being fully accessible by the wait staff.
Our Sommelier, who, it turned out, would be our guide for the entire evening, asked about drinks to start. After a lengthy discussion -- nothing is easy with these two guys -- we settled on a Pǎlincǎ and beer to start. Of course I had to receive a full education on the drink prior to even picking up the glass to taste the concoction. According to information provided by Daniel,
Pǎlincǎ is Romania's traditional fruit brandy -- strong, authentic and deeply connected to village hospitality. In Translyvania and Maramures, it is offered to guests as a welcome drink ... made from plums, pears or apples and usually enjoyed before a traditional meal."
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| Zoltan, Author, and Daniel |
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| Pǎlincǎ and beer |
The Somm described our upcoming experience as a nine-course tasting menu of Romanian dishes using ingredients from various Romanian territories. "With every dish you will feel the smoky flavor because they are cooked over fire in the outside kitchen." The dishes would include an amuse bouche plus four appetizers, three main courses, and two desserts and would be accompanied by paired wines if we so desired. We also had the option of buying our drinks separately. After some consideration we opted for the paired wine selections.
The courses were deployed as follows.
Amuse Bouche
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| Amuse Bouche: Canned cabbage roll surrounding a cauliflower purée, pickled green peppers, and Romanian goat cheese. The white crown is pickled cold Rabé. |
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| Cold Spinach Borsch |
The wine that was paired with the Amuse bouche was a PetNat from Crama Ferdi. The wine is called Chef's Choice because of the involvement of Chef Milhai and a Chef from another establishment. The wine was fermented in stainless steel and then aged in oak barrels. After 1.5 months in barrel, hops are added, giving the wine an elderflower aroma.
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| Wine Pairing for the Amuse Bouche: Crama Ferdi Sauvage H. Chefs Choice |
Appetizers
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| Appetizer #1: Nettle Stew -- cooked on a fire and served with a cream that included macerated cheese and an emulsion made from wild berries, radishes, and spring herbs. Accompanied by bread made at the restaurant |
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| Wine #2: Prince Stirbey Tǎmǎroasǎ Romǎneascǎ 2023 |
The second wine -- Prince Stirbey Tǎmǎroasǎ Romǎneascǎ 2023 -- was paired with the Nettle Stew. According to the Somm, the winery had a lengthy history in the Dragasani region, a history which was disrupted by the requirements of the managed economy. It was reconstituted in its current form in 2001 when a member of the former owning family returned to Romania and restarted a Quality Wine operation.
The wine, according to the Somm, has a floral smell and aromatic notes, qualities which would stand it in good stead when paired with the dish. Zoltan agreed, insisting that the dish was very smoky and so needed the aromatics to complement. Zoltan was very impressed with the pairing both in terms of the strategy and the results.
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| Appetizer #2: Polenta boiled in cheese leftovers then burnt and topped with a mushroom ketchup. On the side, smoked sour cream topped with mushroom powder and sauteed mushrooms |
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| Wine #3: Nachbil Rhine Riesling |
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| Appetizer #3: Catch of the Season -- Corvina Filet cooked on the fire. Served on a green sauce and with a leafy topping which adds acidity to the dish |
This was a powerful fish which overwhelmed the palate and the wine. It probably could have spent a little more time under heat. Not my favorite of the dishes tasted that evening.
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| Appetizer #4: New Cabbage -- Cabbage cooked on the grill and topped with a Spring Herb Sauce. The sauce includes green onions, green garlic, wild garlic, spinach, sunflower seeds, and a reduction made of borsch. Some spring herbs added. |
The New Cabbage dish is 100% vegan and its heightened acidity vis a vis the preceding dishes is intended to serve as a separator between those dishes and the meat dishes to follow. There is no specific wine paired with this dish so we used the Rhine Riesling from the preceding dish. Zoltan thought this was the best pairing that he had had since returning to Romania seven years ago.
Main Courses
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| Main Course #1: Sheep Loin cooked on a fire and glazed with a concoction containing eggplant, eggplant mousse, chocolate and tomato sauce, and pickled onions |
The dish was paired with a Dagon First Barrel Bǎbeasca Neagrǎ 2025. this wine is similar in body to a Pinot Noir but does not possess the latter's flavor or agability. This wine characteristically shows sour red fruits and is best drunk young. Zoltan mentioned that this light-bodied red would have probably gone well with the previous fish course; the Somm agreed but said he would tell us later why he chose not to go that route.
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| Wine #4: Dagon First Barrel Bǎbeasca Neagrǎ, 2025 |
The second main course is called Fannah and is comprised of beef tongue fried on wood fire served on top of a leek sauce that is made with spring herbs and a demi-glace that is made from olives. This is accompanied by a Grilled Cucumber Salad.
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| Main Course #2: Fanah -- Beef Tongue with leeks and olives |
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| Grilled Cucumber Salad |
The pairing for the dish was 2020 Syrah reserve from Nachbil, the producer of the Rhine Riesling drunk earlier. According to the Somm, this is the oldest Syrah vine in the country. The wine was aged in 50% first-passage and 50% second-passage oak.
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| Wine #5: Nachbil Syrah 2022 |
At about this time, Chef Mihai Toader stopped by to see how things were going and got into a discussion with Daniel about the restaurant cooking process.The upshot was that a dish could be subjected to one or more cooking processes -- charcoal, open fire, smoker, and wood oven -- but, in all cases, beechwood was the fuel source.
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| Chef Mihai Toader |
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| Main #3: Pork with Cabbage -- Slow-cooked Pork with a Mushroom Glaze and a wild-garlic emulsion. Accompanied by a Cabbage Roll with innards to include Cabbage Pureé and Pickled Cabbage and with green (mushroom) and white toppings |
This dish was paired with the Davino Rouge 2020. This wine is an equal-parts blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Feteascǎ Neagrǎ. Each variety is fermented and aged separately in 50% first-pass and 50% second-pass oak barriques.
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| Davino Rouge 2020 |
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The evening clicked on all cylinders.
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| Somm, Zoltan, Mihai, Author, and Daniel at the conclusion of a superb dinner |
First, the locale. The restaurant sits outside the hustle and bustle of the downtown area, a calming effect in its own right. Within the restaurant, a number of seating choices open up to the customer: courtyard seating; the bar fronting the cooking area; or the serenity of upstairs dining.
The staff is courteous and well-attired, with a wealth of training visible in their every action.
Zoltan still cannot stop raving about our Somm. And I am in agreement with him. The young man presented well on a persona level but, beyond that, his knowledge of the dishes and the wine, and how they worked together, was fulsome. His delivery was impeccable. His choice of pairings was perfection, except for the one case that he promised to explain later (he forgot to do same). Zoltan had raised the issue of whether the Dagon Bǎbeasca Neagrǎ would have been a better pairing for the Corvina. That fish had been so strong that we set it aside.
Outside of the fish, all of the dishes were outstanding. And these were not simple dishes. It was wonderful to see how the Chef weaved these multi-ingredient dishes together, ending up with tasteful, smoke-etched masterpieces. I loved the way he used the vegan dish as the dividing line in the dinner: white-wine-sympathetic dishes before, red-wine dishes after.
The courses were hearty and I can't remember us getting to the desserts.
Awesome evening that put the Beaten Path to shame.
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