Online Magazine Autumn/Winter 2003 Dining Guide Salt Lake City Resort & Canyon Park City The Best Soups The Best Soups Lovin Spoonfuls On chilly black winter evenings, crusty bread and a bowl of hot soup nourishes heart and soul as well as tummy. In the Salt Lake Valley, we have plenty of choices in the soup department, from bouillon to bouillabaisse, all worth bundling up and heading out into the weather for a warming supper. The hearty French onion soup at Martine and Desert Edge is one favorite, with the sweetness of caramelized onions balancing the complex beef and chicken stock, all reinforced with a bit of burgundy wine and sherry. A mound of Swiss cheese melting on a raft of French baguette makes for a substantial starter or, with salad, a supper. Chef Tom Grant of Martine always includes a savory seasonal soup on his menu, but one stands out. The roasted butternut squash is puréed with mascarpone and roasted vegetable stock and sweetened and heated with allspice, nutmeg and cayenne. To experience completely different flavors, try the yin and yang of hot-and-sour soups. For hot, we like Chef Jack Chen's at Formosa Grill, flecked with red pepper, generously replete with bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms and tofu, all swimming in a fresh chicken stock. For a nice contrast, try Xiao-li, where the soup is less fiery and sourer, compliments of white pepper and white vinegar. (Both places omit the traditional dried lily and pig¹s blood, which Xiao-li's Owner/Chef Lee Lei calls "acquired tastes.") Nestled in the winter snows of Millcreek Canyon, Log Haven offers a picturesque setting for sublime soup, where Chef Dave Jones is stirring some complex creations. He varies the stock from delicate to layered, depending on the main soup ingredient, using more mirepoix and roasted meat bones when sturdiness is needed. His roasted butternut squash and king crab leg soup calls for a simpler stock, which is then intensified by shaved roasted hazelnuts and Pecorino Romano cheese. Experience with long cold spells in Sweden ensures that Staffan and Kimberley Eklund know how to make a bone-thawing, soul-steaming soup, which is the case with Absolute!'s creamy trio - chanterelle mushroom with smoked bacon and cranberries; Swedish salmon chowder; and butternut squash with curry crème fraiche. All three recipes have their own delicious characteristics. For the best daily variety, urbanites hit one of the two Big City Soup locations to slurp one of a number of model chowders and vegetable soups. The Thai Chicken Noodle is a mildly spicy, modern version of a favorite cold remedy or after-school snack, but it beats the canned stuff hands down. Menudo and posole blur the line between soup and stew. But the sopa de albóndigas at Casa Sanchez is a good argument for broadening your horizons. Albóndigas is a broth of solid comfort, brimming with lemon, oregano, cilantro and tender meatballs and served with hot flour tortillas. Or try the friendly pho, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup accompanied by fresh basil, lime and cilantro, available at many noodle houses around town such as Mi La Cai. The three-alarm version may bring a tear to the eye and help cure a winter's cold, but there are plenty of pho variations in texture, heat and flavor. And, fine chefs at places like Fresco and Em's have superior soups this time of year, depending on what's fresh and in season. During winter, keep an eye open for squash, potato and chestnut variations. So many soups, so little time. With so many warm, lovin' spoonfuls to choose from, Old Man Winter doesn't have a chance. Absolute! 801/359-0899 52 W. 200 South, $$$ Big City Soup 801/337-7687, 801/333-SOUP 234 S. Main Street 235 S. 400 West, $$ Casa Sanchez 801/466-1837 389 W. 1700 South, $ Desert Edge Brewery 801/521-8917 Trolley Square, 600 E. 600 South, $$ Em's 801/596-0566 271 N. Center St., $$ Formosa Grill 801/461-0661 2115 E. 2100 South, $ Fresco Italian Café 801/486-1300 1513 S. 1500 East, $$$ Log Haven 801/272-8255 Millcreek Canyon, $$$-$$$$ Martine 801/363-9328 22 E. 100 South, $$ Mi La Cai 801/322-3590 961 S. State St, $ Xiao-li 801/328-8688 307 West 200 South, $$ Salt Lake City Resort & Canyon Park City The Best Soups