Soup

As things begin to ice over, and your to-do list is only getting longer, there may well blossom in your solace seeking soul, a desire – no, need – for quick, transportable, warm comfort.  Ladies, Gentlemen, it is time for soup.  Though it may, at times, seem that Hyde Park roils in its own little pocket of dark destitution, far from the bright lights and bustle of Chicago (my kind of town), there still simmers the glimmer of gas jets perpetually warming stockpots of lentils and consolation through the long night of winter.  The Snail on 55th offers several soups (the seaweed soup is my favorite), all of them good.  The lentil soup from the Nile, nearby, is a great restorative.  The Morroccan Ragout from the Med is top notch.  The best Miso around here ships out from Shinju on 53rd.  The Jambalaya (formerly of the fabulous Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop) at Calypso in Harper Court really should not be missed.  The soups at Noodles Etc. on 57th are cheap and satisfying; and anything from Cafe Corea over on 55th is well worth a try.  Now, I’m not saying that these are the only soups worthy of slurping in all of Hyde Park; however, these are the soups that sustained me through my winter quarter.  If you find something else, I’d love to try it out.