Awards & Distinctions
James Beard Foundation
Maura Kilpatrick, Finalist, Outstanding Baker (2015-2020)
Read More
BEST OF BOSTON
Sofra Bakery & Cafe, Boston’s Best Pastries (2017)
Boston Magazine
Maura Kilpatrick, Boston’s Best Pastry Chef (2011)
Boston Magazine
Maura Kilpatrick, Boston’s Best Pastry Chef (2007-2009)
Boston Magazine
Press
WBUR
Sofra Allston is Open
Take a peek inside chef Ana Sortun’s new Sofra in Allston
James Beard Award-winning chef Ana Sortun is adding her culinary voice to Allston's evolution with an expansion of her popular Cambridge bakery, Sofra. The new fast-casual eatery arrives as the surrounding neighborhood undergoes seismic change. The nearby streets are lined with swarms of construction crews and massive building projects that include the American Repertory Theater’s new performance center.
TIME OUT
Best Desserts in Boston
Satisfy your sugar cravings with a local sweet treat.
The smaller, more casual sibling to some of the city’s favorite restaurants, Oleana and Sarma, Sofra is the place to go for a Mediterranean dessert in the Boston area. Enjoy a bracing Turkish coffee while you make your way through the menu at the Cambridge café: there are several varieties of baklava to devour, including chocolate-hazelnut; plus appealing creations like dukkah macaroons, tahini shortbread, chocolate chunk cookies and more. If you’re overwhelmed, you can never go wrong with a slice of almond rose cake.
NEW YORK TIMES
The Restaurant List
the 50 places in america we’re most excited about right now.
Come early and order everything. That’s the appropriate way to experience Sofra, whose menu tours Turkey, Lebanon and Greece, and whose flavor combinations are singular. Here you’ll find excellent versions of classic meze like baba ghanouj and muhammara. But pay close attention to the pastries, overseen by Maura Kilpatrick. Doughnuts come filled with a tahini sour cream custard and brown butter; cinnamon rolls are sweetened with dates and slathered in cream cheese. Nothing is cloying, and the chef Ana Sortun and her team put the utmost care into perfecting each element, down to the freshly milled grains.
Food 52
3 Different Takes
on Shakshuka
(All Are Winners!)
North African in origin, hugely popular in Israel, and staining tablecloths and t-shirts all over the Middle East and world at large, shakshuka is exactly the one-pan, bear hug of a dish that we want to eat for breakfast every morning—and then again for dinner every night.
Serious eats
Ask a Pastry Chef: What to Eat at Sofra Bakery & Cafe, Cambridge, MA
What do you get when you transport the bold colors, inventive flavors, and exotic spices of the well-loved Cambridge restaurant Oleana into a cozy bakery and cafe? Sofra, the popular spot created by James Beard Award-winner Ana Sortun and 5-time "Best of Boston" pasty chef Maura Kilpatrick.
WBUR - COGNOSCENTI
Ana Sortun:
Food that makes sense in my heart
Sortun got her start in restaurants early, in Seattle, her hometown. By 14, she had a job washing dishes in a Mexican restaurant (Pueblo Indian style, she tells me) — but she was most intrigued by what was happening in the kitchen. The owners of that place, a couple from Albuquerque, New Mexico, indulged her interest; they paid for Sortun to attend cooking classes. By 16, she was running their Sunday brunch. By 19, she was studying at a cooking school in Paris.
NEW YORK TIMES
Where to Eat
The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
It’s not just seafood and Italian. There’s great Vietnamese, omakase, Peruvian and even bagels worth seeking out. (Don’t worry, there’s also great seafood and Italian.) We’ll see you in the comments.
food & wine
Brown Butter Pecan Pie With Espresso Dates
At Sofra Bakery & Cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Maura Kilpatrick is known for her ingenious blending of American and Middle Eastern flavors. Here she balances sweet Medjool dates with bitter espresso and toasty brown butter for a pie that might look familiar but is surprisingly complex.
bon appetit
The Middle Eastern Pastry Shop That Ottolenghi Hits When He’s in Town
Sofra, located in Cambridge, is worth the train-bus combo, Uber Pool, or bribed ride from a friend to make it here for breakfast or lunch. Ana Sortun, Boston’s reigning queen of Mediterranean cuisine, and pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick turn out a menu’s worth of must-orders.