Favorite Restaurant Soups -

Tortilla soup from A Good Life Cafe on 25th Street in Ogden.

Many people have favorite restaurant soups. I wrote about some of them in the Standard-Examiner’s Dining guide.

A lot of restaurants are known for a signature soup that sets them apart from anywhere else. Remember the Bratten’s Seafood Grotto on Harrison Boulevard? It closed a good 25 years ago, but home cooks are still passing around the restaurant’s clam chowder recipe. Likewise, the clam chowder at the Market Street Grill restaurants in Salt Lake City has legions of fans.

I asked around for suggestions on what favorite

Coconut Curry Lentil Soup served at A Good Life Cafe.

restaurant soups people enjoyed in northern Utah. Some included French Onion Soup at Union Grill in Ogden, Zuppa at Gabor Brothers in Layton, Coconut Milk Soup at Arroy-D in Ogden, Pho from Van Loi in Roy, Café Rio’s Chicken Tortilla Soup, Mulligatawny from A Good Life Cafe in Ogden, Pho from Saigon Café in Sunset, Split Pea and Ham from MacCool’s, and Tomato Basil Bisque at Zucca Trattoria.

I called as many places as time permitted, and talked to those willing to be interviewed. I also

Garden Chowder served at Cafe Zupa's. — Garden Chowder served at Cafe Zupa’s.

called a few chains known for their soups, knowing that the local managers aren’t allowed to do interviews; you have to talk to the corporate PR folks. (Then you spend a couple of days leaving voicemails and emails and being passed along the corporate chain. A former colleague calls this “phone jail.” Sometimes they finally call back after a few days, but often they don’t. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t hear back from Cafe Zupas. When I did a story last spring, the owners were reticent to talk, but they emphasized that Zupas makes its soups from scratch.

Gary Greenwood said he doesn't rely on recipes to come up with his daily soups. — Gary Greenwood at A Good Life Cafe.

Surprisingly, a lot of eateries DON’T make their soups from scratch. Back in my food editor days, I went to restaurant industry food shows and visited with companies who make soups that are shipped out to restaurants. All the restaurant staff has to do is thaw, reheat and serve.

And while I’m talking about pet peeves, another one is when restaurant chefs call their food “homemade.” Because if it was really “homemade,” that would mean the chef made it at his home. Better descriptors might be “house-made,” or “from scratch.”

But, I digress. Here are some of the things I learned from my research:

1. At A Good Life Café, two housemade soups are served daily. One of them is always vegan, and most of the time they’re both gluten-free. Chef Gary Greenwood’s repertoire includes New England Clam Chowder, Split Pea and Sweet Potato, Coconut Curry Lentil, Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Soup, Mulligatawny, Chicken and Dumpling, Chicken Tortilla, and Sprouted Red Beans and Rice.

Chef Gary Greenwood enjoys his Tortilla Soup at A Good Life Cafe in downtown Ogden.

Greenwood doesn’t rely on recipes. He credits growing up in the great culinary city of New Orleans for his cooking know-how. He ended up in Utah after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home. He uses some Cajun and Creole cooking techniques, “But with a healthy touch. We make all our own vegetable stocks.”

2. Most Harmons grocery stores offer four different soups

Chef Cory Neilson checks on the four soups at the Roy Harmons' Soup Bar. — Chef Cory Neilson checks on the four soups at the Roy Harmons’ Soup Bar.

every day, along with 24-ounce containers of chilled soup to-go. The City Creek location in downtown Salt Lake offers more, because it is a lunch destination for so many downtown workers, according to Tara Haynie, Harmons’ marketing director.

Some of the soups are required for all the stores, and then each store can decide on one daily soup “of whatever we feel like doing that day,” said Corey Neilson, chef at the Roy store. “Some of it is determined by what is on hand at the store, because we want to provide our customers with the best quality of food. A lot of our meat is Boar’s Head deli meat, and our vegetables come from a local company. All of the soups are prepared from-scratch daily.”

The line-up at the Roy store included heartier soups such as Chili, Chicken Noodle, Clam Chowder, and Cream of Broccoli — a little heavier and heartier than the vegetable soups usually served in summer. The two top-sellers are Chili and Clam Chowder — “Unbelievably, they’re even popular in the summer,” said Neilson.

Chili is one of the top-selling soups at Harmons, and it can be served in a bread bowl for 99 cents more.

What makes them good?

“We make all of our broths, we render down the bones from our rotisserie chickens, mixed with some vegetables. We cook that broth all day long, and that gives it a full-body flavor versus a packaged soup.”

3. MacCool’s Split Pea and Ham soup was on the original menu when the Salt Lake City location opened. The soup’s rich flavor starts by braising a ham shank in the soup pot, and then adding the other veggies. “It’s totally house-created from scratch,” said manager Michael Anderson. “A lot of people compare it to their grandmother’s, before shortcuts and Campbell’s soup. ”

4. Tomato Basil Bisque has become a signature menu item since Zucca Trattoria opened six years ago. Chef and general manager Geraldine Sepulveda said they could never take if off the menu because it’s so popular.

The restaurants makes its own chicken stock, which is the base. The famed San Marzano tomatoes, imported from Italy, also go into the pot. These plum tomatoes are known for their strong, sweet flavor. A bouquet garni of thyme, green onions, basil, parsley, and garlic is steeped in the soup for intense flavor.

Related