Sophie’s Lunch: Comme Ci, Comme Ça

Sophie
889 Queen Street East
416-461-0505
Complete lunch for two with coffee, taxes, and tip: $35

What neighbourhood wouldn’t want a charming little café to open for business on one of its most dreary corners? No wonder Leslieville’s cheer could be heard throughout the city when Sophie opened its doors in late September this year. Sharing the intersection with a bank, a drug store, and a Starbucks, Sophie, with its name spelled out in chartreuse letters above the door, is a beacon for patrons looking for a unique spot to stop for sustenance.

Flooded with light thanks to its corner real estate, Sophie’s bright, minimalist interior of white walls and wood floors and tabletops is dotted with punches of colour. There are orange and lime green throw pillows, fuchsia and indigo paintings, and even the kitchen staff’s aprons are patterned in kaleidoscopic hues. The palette is carried right through to the tableware, as evidenced by the green French press that arrives with the coffee my partner and I share as prelude to lunch (large press $6; small $3).

When ours mains arrive we have no complaints about taste. The goat cheese and roasted tomato flan ($6.95) is quite delectable; ruby-hued tomato halves and wrinkly cured black olives nest in a soft, rich egg-and-cream filling. The Lorraine ($5.95), one of several daily quiche options, is flavourful and authentic, studded only with lardons. Both are accompanied by well-dressed simple mixed greens, but truth be told we’d be happy to pay a little extra for larger portions — after just a few bites our meals are done and we’re left scoping the display case for something else to devour. We sample a croissant ($1.90) but are disappointed by its bread-like texture (we were expecting airy and flaky) but find the slice of freshly baked pumpkin-pecan loaf ($2.50) moist and chock-full of classic autumn spices.

A return visit for takeout one afternoon poses a similar dilemma. Sophie’s tourtière ($6.95) swaddles a savoury blend of ground meat, herbs, and spices in light, crisp pastry, but the scant serving means the meal doesn’t satisfy as it should. Daily soup ($5.50) in wide-ranging flavours such as carrot-ginger, cream of mushroom, and cauliflower-fennel are also well prepared but might be dished out  a tad more generously.

More successful portion-wise are Sophie’s sandwiches, which are accompanied by a choice of several daily side salads. Mushroom, Camembert, and caramelized onion on a baguette ($6.95) pairs nicely with a deliciously hearty salad of small white potatoes, creamy blue cheese, salty crumbled bacon, and slivered red onion packing a touch of heat. The sandwich has the potential to deliver a similarly satisfying medley of flavours, but given that it’s served cold directly out of refrigeration, it’s hard to taste them. Perhaps the egg with dill on organic multigrain ($5.50) fares better straight from the cooler, but Camembert and slow-cooked vegetables are rendered tasteless. Pre-made and -wrapped items certainly make sense for the lunch crowd popping in to get lunch to go, but making sandwiches to order, or at least warming them up, is something the café might consider for its dine-in customers.

Dessert seems in order ($4.95; selection changes daily), but seeing a piece of raspberry tart coming out of the same case as my sandwich, I spend a few minutes perusing Sophie’s pantry at the back of the space before tucking in. Everything on the shelves is for sale and there’s an array of gourmet products to choose from, including jam, honey, fig spread, and olive oil cookies.

Returning to the tart, I find the filling has baked up into an almost cakey texture and is scented with almond, just the right foil for the berries scattered over its surface. Not quite right, though, is the crust. It’s buttery, yes, but far too crisp; the tines of my fork won’t sink in so I’m forced to pick up my knife, and in using it almost launch the tart clear off the plate.

These missteps — portion size, hiccups in some of the food’s execution — are fixable, and hopefully it won't take long for Sophie to get the wrinkles ironed out. The real Sophie behind the café’s name hails from Montreal, and she has brought to the corner of Queen and Logan some of the style for which that city is known. The space, which she refers to as "Mon Petit Café," has big potential. The neighbourhood is rooting for Sophie and her team to live up to it.

Jodi Lewchuk is an editor by profession and a writer and cook by passion. She also writes about and photographs food for her personal blog, Cursive Mechanics.