Soframiz
Author: Ana Sortun & Maura Kilpatrick
Publisher: Union Park Press
Date: May 1, 2018
Ana Sortun
Cited as one of the country’s “best creative fusion practitioners,” Seattle-born Ana Sortun graduated from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine de Paris before opening Moncef Medeb’s Aigo Bistro in Concord, Massachusetts, in the early 1990s. Following stints at 8 Holyoke and Casablanca in Harvard Square, she opened Oleana in 2001, immediately drawing raves for dishes that The New York Times described as “rustic-traditional and deeply inventive.”
Awarded the “Best Chef: Northeast” honor by the James Beard Foundation in 2005, her cookbook, SPICE: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, was published in 2006 and has become a bestseller. Sortun also owns Sofra Bakery & Café and Sarma, a traditional Turkish-styled tavern.
Pastry Chef Maura Kilpatrick
Though she started out staffing the front of the house of many San Francisco restaurants, Maura Kilpatrick has found herself behind the scenes, side by side with some of Boston’s most noted chefs.
While in San Francisco, Kilpatrick attended the California Culinary Academy receiving a graduate certificate in baking. Upon her return home to Boston, she worked for Lydia Shire, opening the bakery at Pignoli. Once Pignoli was up and running, Maura opened 8 Holyoke, with Ana Sortun and Moncef Medeb. Local publications took note.
Kilpatrick hit her stride working with Rene Becker, owner of High-Rise Bread Company and Hi-Rise Pie Company. In addition to taking charge of all baking operations, she was a key player in the opening and launching of both bakeries. Kilpatrick has made the rounds at Boston restaurants. She opened the new Harvest and worked alongside award-winning Chef Rene Michelena at La Bettolla.
Reuniting with Ana Sortun, Kilpatrick is now the Pastry Chef at Oleana, where she developed the dessert concept months in advance of opening, receiving glowing reviews from all the local newspapers and magazines.
Oleana’s tremendous success spawned another Kilpatrick/Sortun collaboration; in the spring of 2008, Cambridge welcomed Sofra, a Middle Eastern bakery and café, with a menu inspired by the cuisine of Turkey, Lebanon and Greece. The name, which comes from an ancient Arabic word meaning dining table, picnic, or kilim, is also a synonym for generosity and hospitality both of which Kilpatrick has in spades.