Cari amici di Sotto Sopra,

Welcome to 2011. I hope you had a great holiday season and that you all survived it without gaining too much! Personally, I have gained a few, so I'm putting in extra time at the gym each day.

I'm excited about a new adventure this year. I regard every January as a new beginning for my life, goals and achievements. This allows me to age slower (yeah,right) with a more optimistic view towards the future. My goal this year is to put Sotto Sopra on the map by working hard for consistency of food and service. I have worked really hard the past six months to bring out the best of me regarding my culinary skills and creativity. Now is time to get all of this ingrained in my kitchen and service staff. To maintain the longevity of the restaurant it is important that all my staff is at the top of their game.

As always, I welcome any feedback and suggestions  - e-mail me at Rbosio9@aol.com.

Restaurant Week

Restaurant Week begins late January, on Friday the 21^st and as before, Sotto Sopra will be extending into the second week through Sunday, February 6^th.

We will feature many of our most popular dishes and will add some supplemental charges for the very expensive items. I hate when restaurants put steaks on Restaurant Week menus just to find out later you get only a skimpy 4 oz. portion. I rather charge a small surcharge and guests get the right amount of food and still offer value.

By the way, just a note for all of you; 2011 will see dramatic increases in prices of cattle, fish, coffee, and other commodities. Blame it on easy money, speculation, emerging markets and global warming. Be prepared to pay more for those goods coming May or June when futures contracts reset. Sorry for a little negative news, but I need to put reality checks in my newsletter!

A bit more on economics

On this subject, someone needs to explain to me why these morons at the Fed include refrigerators, cars and other big items when calculating inflation measures in the baskets of goods?  What are we suppose to eat for breakfast: the refrigerator! Really? Let's just call it "stupideconomics" (new word for you Sarah Palin! ).

Anyhow, beside some given challenges, I hope all of you will have a great year, full of health and accomplishments or, if nothing else, maybe a spiritual awakening - an epiphany. (I need one of those!).

Whatever it might be, don't forget to enjoy your life and treasure your loved ones. Our time on this earth is really, really, really short.

Ciao,

Take care of yourselves and each other,