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She was a consummate hostess and “the queen of ambiance,†says the daughter of Sonya Bentley, who died last month at the age of 90. And while she was the vision behind the elegance created at Casa Vieja restaurant in Corrales, helping to establish the village as a haven for fine dining, Sonya wasn’t afraid to get her hands wet.
“If they needed help in the kitchen, she’d push up her silk sleeves and go wash dishes,†said Melissa Bentley, the daughter of Sonya and Frank Bentley, who started Casa Vieja in 1970 as a fine dining establishment specializing in northern Italian food.
Sonya Bentley died Nov. 3 in Albuquerque. She is survived by her two children, Melissa and Alec, two grandchildren, and Larry Logan, her husband for nearly 25 years.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Queens, New York, Sonya met Frank Bentley while both were working for British-based BOAC airlines. They married and started a family while living in an apartment building on East 89th Street, but grew weary of the city and decided to move out and try something new.
Neither had much experience in the restaurant business, but Frank loved to cook. He took cooking classes and went to Italy to study the craft.
“She said let’s get out of the city and open an Italian restaurant. It’ll be fun,†Melissa said of her mother’s aspirations.
Elaine Pulakos, a neighbor in their New York apartment building, told the Bentleys about a quiet little community near Albuquerque. Soon enough, the couple flew in with their business partner, Paul Barby, and met with Elaine’s brother George Pulakos and his family in Corrales. There they found a beautiful 5,000 square foot adobe building with fireplaces throughout the house that the Olsen family had put up for sale.
“We lived with the Olsens the first few months of the renovation,†recalled Alec Bentley, who was then 4.
It was a far cry from New York City but a great place to grow up, he said. The home was on 3.5 acres covered with grass, bushes and fruit trees. And it came equipped with perhaps the largest swimming pool in the village. The family formed a partnership with about 15 other families, each chipping in to cover the maintenance costs in exchange for use of the pool. What was known as the Corrales Community Pool provided children of the village with countless hours of summer fun.
Melissa said that the well being of the children held a special place in her mother’s heart. Sonya helped raise Melissa’s two children and was a supporter of Peanut Butter & Jelly Family Services, which has several locations in the area.
“She was a second mom to a lot of people,†Melissa said, someone people felt they could talk to.
Sonya influenced many lives in big ways and small.
“To this day, people remember how to set a table because she taught them,†Alec said.
And there better be linen napkins and a candle on the table. Melissa called her mother “the queen of ambiance.â€
“When our parents had (the restaurant), it was very elegant,†she said. “It was spiffy; it was fancy.â€
Opened six months after their arrival, Casa Vieja soon established itself as a fine dining and special event venue, and drew people from miles around.
“That restaurant was where university professors would always take their guests,†says Mary Davis, Corrales’ village historian.
There’s some question about the age of the building. A menu from the time the Bentleys owned Casa Vieja says it was constructed about 1712. Davis says tree ring analysis on the vigas suggest it was built in the mid-1800s. “But you never know with vigas,†she said, granting that the vigas tested may not be the original beams.
Regardless, the building has an interesting history – functioning as a chapel, an itinerant court and the headquarters of a cavalry unit at different points in time – and is on the State Register of Historic Places.
And for 18 years as a northern Italian restaurant, Sonya was its matriarch.
“She ran the front of the restaurant and had a very distinct vision,†Melissa says. “She was the consummate hostess and could charm anyone. If someone’s meal didn’t come out right, she would jump in and it would all be resolved in a few seconds.â€
And while she was small in stature, she was not one to be underestimated. Yet people were surprised that Sonya provided the labor when she built an outside adobe wall.
Though she never played an instrument, Sonya loved music. She wanted to be a ballerina when she was young. Throughout her life, she loved to dance and listen to music.
“Our parents were classical music aficionados,†Melissa said. Alec added that she would bring in chamber musicians and classical guitarists to enhance the mood. Casa Vieja always hosted a big New Year’s party that included dancing.
Sonya had a “wickedly sharp sense of humor that was with her to the end,†the siblings said.
Sonya and Frank divorced four years after opening the restaurant. But they remained good friends and business partners until Frank became ill and died in 1987. Sonya wasn’t up for continuing to run the restaurant, so she sold it a year later. It has since changed ownership several times and now functions as a brewery and taproom.
Sonya spent the last part of her life married to Larry Logan and living not far away at La Luz del Sol townhomes in Albuquerque.
Alec and Melissa say a celebration of Sonya’s life – probably next spring – is planned at Casa Vieja. No date has been set.