OK, the soup on the front page was from the Stockpot; mulligitawny is my favorite there. Some folks think the best soup of all is homemade. If that’s you, maybe you can share your talents…
The Cooking With Friends Club, a Montclair-based cooking community, is partnering with the Human Needs Food Pantry for their annual “Souper Bowl,” set to coincide with the NFL Super Bowl on February 4. The Food Pantry will distribute soup made by Cooking with Friends club members to the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, the homeless and the homebound. There are currently 30 members participating in the “Souper Bowl” and the club expects to deliver 50 to 80 quarts of fresh, homemade soup to some of our less fortunate neighbors.
Founded in October 2006, the Cooking with Friends Club currently has close to 100 members, who use e-mail and the internet to share cooking & menu ideas, swap recipes, and get together with one or two friends to cook, thereby enhancing existing friendships and forming new bonds.
If you want to get in on the soup and the good Samaritanism, there’s still time to participate in this “Souper Bowl” event. Visit the club online here.
While you’re here, tell us your favorite soup and where you get it from…
The best soup I have eaten in years is the pasta fagiole at Trattoria Rustica. I pick it up for lunch often and never tire of it. Thought i’d try my luck with a soup of the same name at the “new” Church Street restaurant, and boy, was that a disappointment!
Certainly, Stockpot has some of the best soup…love the Carrot, Brettone, Pistou and more…Yum…
My ex husband made an outrageous Roumanian Potato/Onion Soup; however, I am not dining on that anymore.
I had excellent spinach/egg soup at La Trattoria; the pasta was also good, great sauce. It will give Leone’s a run, I think.
Little Saigon on Elm just off Bloomfield Ave. makes the most amazing noodle soup with pork. Yum!
believe it or not, the lemon chicken at charbroil is the best around. but only get it when gus makes it. i would love to find someone who makes a good potato/leek soup.
I enjoyed the potato leek soup at Bonjour Montclair Creperie. And I’ve heard raves about that pork/noodle soup at Little Saigon, too. Intend to try it soon.
Terra Tea has wonderful soups! They are homemade and they change soups daily. We had a middle eastern lentil that had the perfect balance of spices. Yum!
Villa Victoria!
I don’t know who makes the soup there, but it’s consistently some of the best soup I’ve ever had – as good as homemade on any day.
The best soup I make is from a recipe from the Jane Brody Cookbook. It is called “Gypsy Soup”. Actually, it originally came from the Moosewood cookbook.
The escarole soup at Turano (opposite Gencarelli’s bakery) was outstanding.
#1 – Mulligatawny at Stockpot
#2 – Potato-Leek at Hobby’s Deli in Newark, early 1970’s
#3 – The only pot of homemade Turkey soup I ever made, thanks to the late Ms. Thelma’s recipe – I can only remember the joy, not the date.
I make an easy and great potato leek soup from the cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure.
The Stock Pot’s version of Mulligatawny soup is my favorite!
Also love the split lentil (awesome) and the apple carrot at the always wonderful Bonjour Montclair!
Mi Saigon soup at Little Saigon
The best soup on this earth is the Pho Noodle Soup w/ BBQ Pork at Little Saigon. It is #35 on the menu. If you don’t like pork or want to cut down on the fat, order it w/ BBQ chicken…it’s just as good.
In outer Outer Baristaville – any soup but especially the Chicken pasta soup from Three Guys from Italy in Belleville, just north of Branch Brook Park. The stock garlickly without being overpowering and the broth could cure what ails ya. They also use excellent olive oil in their cooking.
love the coconut chicken at daily soup. yum!
Potato & Leek Soup:
1) Suspend your diet for a few days.
2) Get over the fact that the Fat Nazis are looking in your kitchen window.
3) Get your ingredients at Whole Foods — no one in Baristaville has better produce.
4) Get out your copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (Volume I) by Julia Child.
5) Look up the recipe for “Potage Parmentier.”
6) Make it. DO NOT scrimp on the heavy cream and butter.
7) Eat it with good French bread and an amusing Sauvignon Blanc.
8) Your heart will be pure — and warm.
Stock Pot has the best soups! We love the mulligitawny and pistou the best. Have been going there for 20 years now!
I love to make soup – I made an awesome veggie one last night chock full of carrots/squash/cabbage/string beans – thick almost like a guloush (sp?).
My dad taught me to make the best French Onion soup from his mom (who was from France). Also, the NY Times cookbook as an excellent receipt for Cream of Watercress soup that I’ve made for years that is simply delicious.
Believe it or not, the butternut squash soup at Panera’s is fantastic!
And who can ever forget The Soup Emporium in the old Louie Harris building with those wonderful popovers -I really miss that place.
I went into Stockpot once but they didn’t have any vegetarian soups, except the minestrone. Is the mulligitawny vegetarian? Maybe I’ll see if Bonjour Montclair has vegetarian soups.
Stock Pot has the greatest soups in town. Their split pea is unbelievably sweet, and their chicken noodle has nursed my wife and me through many a cold.
Kudos to Bess & Bob for running a wonderful, homey place.
I am glad to see the kudos for Stockpot. Their food is good and while a bit down home for the ever-awesome Church Street, I enjoy their quiche, soups and once and a while, dessert. I wish they would make better coffee, however; most of the time when I do go, I must import from Beans.
Sometimes they look lost amidst the oh so trendy Cafes on the Street.
i’m a manhatten commuter and i pick up my soups from this new place that just opened not too long ago. Gigi’s next to the bay street train. There’re split pea soup and cream of brocoloi is to die for…
Gigi’s is awesome!
Does Barista know if people who aren’t part of the Cooking With Friends group can participate in SouperBowl Sunday event? I make great soups and would be happy to drop some off, but a message to the Human Needs Pantry hasn’t been returned…
Anyone can join the Cooking with Friends Club. It’s free. You just need to create a Yahoo Id. Make sure you set it so the emails go to your regular email account. Then you can definitely make your great soups and participate in the SouperBowl!
I love the Pasta Fagioli(sp?) from Nauna’s. They have other good soups too, but the fa-zool it awesome!
Did La Trattoria close? It looks deserted. I heard comments that food was undercooked yada yada yada….
I only went that once.
I had fantastic mushroom soup from Quick Check (yes, Quick Check!) the other day.
In my opinion, the stock pot has awesome home cooked food. I never know why it’s not overflowing with people. The prices are by far better than raymonds and cianci and the food is SO much better. if you are looking for simple home made soups, quiche and dessert- the stock pot is your place.