James Beard Award-winning chef Ana Sortun is adding her culinary voice to Allston’s evolution with the expansion of her popular Cambridge bakery. Sofra. The new fast-food spot comes as the neighborhood undergoes seismic changes. Nearby streets are lined with construction crews and major construction projects, including the new performance center for the American Repertory Theatre.
Sortun recalled how, at least seven years ago, demand for staff and production began to grow out of Sofra’s cozy, corner building across from Mount Auburn Cemetery. So, he began to look for a large outpost. Co-owner of Sofra and Sarma in Somerville, along with its flagship restaurant Oleana In Cambridge, attention was drawn to the private Alston estate owned by Harvard University.
Now, its 5,000-square-foot interior features saffron hues, an earthy color palette and a casual vibe, just like Cambridge Sofra. “There’s definitely an atmosphere and a kind of personality,” Sortun said, “that’s obvious when you walk in the door.”
In Turkish, Sofra means picnic, dining table, or small kilim rug for eating. Sortun is known for its creative twists on traditional dishes from countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Greece. Bowls of delicious homemade dips and bright salads are neatly stacked in the fridge. Intricate biscuits and artisan crackers are also on the menu, along with tagine, spanakopita and moussaka. Then there’s Sofra’s unique meze bar with hummus, tzatziki and other Middle Eastern dishes.
The new cafe has about 35 seats for customers in its dining room, compared to about 17 in Cambridge. More than 100 colorfully painted wooden spoons from Turkey hang artistically on the wall. They were presented to Sortun by a collector who collected them all his life. “He wanted someone who could show them off to the public,” he said. In Turkey, such spoons are used in traditional dance.
The biggest difference between the two locations is the size of Allston’s sweet and savory bakery production area. “Because the other space is very tight,” Sortun said, “and we wanted to get the bakers into the commissary room.” His team has hired more staff to meet the demand in Cambridge, but there isn’t enough space. “It’s going to cause a lot of traffic and congestion,” Sortun said, “and it’s going to reduce our productivity and make it very difficult to do what we need to do.”
From now on, all handmade baked goods – from chocolate earthquake cookies to fragrant almond rose cakes – will be made in the new Sofra’s much larger production area, serving both locations.
Sortun’s business partner, Maura Kilpatrick, runs the expanded baking program along with pastry chef Feyza Bayrakcioglu from Turkey. Now, large, modern ovens allow them to bake 20 racks of cookies at a time.
“It’s all very labor-intensive food,” Sortun said of the made-from-scratch pastries, “and a really big oven is very precise.” They also have a machine called a dough depositor, which looks like a large pasta machine. “It basically makes the cookie balls,” he explained, “and we had to assemble it all by hand somewhere else.”
According to Sofra, the new Sofra’s 32 employees are eager to start work pending completion of fire inspections. It takes time for everyone, including chef Paige, to find their rhythm in the new space. “It’s like when you move into a new apartment or house,” Sortun said, “and you don’t even know where the light switches are.”
Being a community hub is a priority for the 57-year-old chef. That’s what attracted him to Alston. “It’s part of our model,” he said, “and we like to be part of a neighborhood that’s changing and growing.” I think one of the greatest feelings is when you can open something to a neighbor and years later they feel it’s theirs.”