LoKal Motion

Downtown Sonoma is not where you'd expect to find a taste of Transylvania.

Yet that's exactly what's on the menu at the new LoKal.

Calling their concept "European soul food," owners John and Heidi Cowles work with chef Rick Edge (formerly executive chef of Plumpjack Café) to offer a refreshingly different flavor for the Bay Area.

LoKal's approach works--and how. Laszlo's Transylvanian Goulash ($14), comprising beef, cabbage and potatoes, is a sizable bowl of long-cooked love.

The recipe for another dish, chicken paprikas ($14), comes from John's Hungarian mom. It's a fortifying mess of Anaheim peppers, tomatoes and sour-cream gravy with big, pillowy dumplings.

Try LoKal's smart take on stuffed cabbage ($12) with wild rice, wild mushrooms and lentils ladled with lecsó, a thick ragout of peppers, tomato and paprika.

The schnitzel sandwich ($12), layered with pan-fried pork loin, house-made sweet pickles, and sauerkraut, is no everyday Reuben. Match it with a Spaten Lager, served as a pint ($5) or in a 2-liter glass boot ($24).

In German, lokal means "place to eat and be seen." In Bay Area parlance, LoKal translates as "so glad to see food like this 'round these parts."

LoKal, 522 Broadway (at E. Napa St.), Sonoma; 707-938-7373 or lokalsonoma.com