HAPPY SOUP SEASON
nyc's best soups + a few favorite recipes
Happy Monday! Fall is in full swing, changes are afoot, the e******* and holidays are imminent, and all I want is a huge bowl of soup. Preferably for every meal. Before I get to the good stuff…a few milestones and changes to note :) In broad strokes, right on Franklin has been reviewing and recommending in New York, LA, D.C., Boston, and Chicago with 37 (!!!!) newsletters and well over 100 restaurants/bars/bakeries. Whether you are looking for the perfect New York bagel, a snack in the Lower East Side, the best dessert the city has to offer, a birthday plan, or a worthwhile brunch, right on Franklin has you covered. This newsletter has been the best part of each week and such a rewarding challenge. I’ve met incredible people, been amazing places, and shared the food I love—what could be better.
In celebration of hitting 500 subscribers, I am so excited to start to launch additional features for paid subscribers! Starting November 11th, all paid subscribers will have access to the right on Franklin map, a Google Map made by me and updated each week with every single spot mentioned on the newsletter. You will have a starting point of around 100 pins which will continue to grow in the months to come! IN ADDITION—I will be launching content accessible to paid subscribers only—a new bi-monthly feature called Table Talk, where I will give you a run-down on all the food and beverage news and happenings that are upcoming/in the works. Every new opening, every collaboration, every special event will be packaged in a round up and delivered straight to your mailbox. No more scrolling through Instagram and sending a friend an event only to realize it had been posted a month ago and has since sold out.
If you would like access to the Google Map, Table Talk, and the full right on Franklin archive, consider becoming a paid subscriber :) I’ll be running a promo until November 1st, so that a subscription is only $4 per month (less than a latte…)
In other news—it is officially soup season (though it has been like 70 degrees). This week I am sharing the best soups in New York to keep you warm and cozy as the days get shorter and we all decide chewing is exhausting. PLEASE send me your favorite soups in the city and soup recipes, the season is only just beginning.
If there is a neighborhood you want to see covered, or you have an occasion you need help planning for—dm me :)
Raku
Udon has always been a favorite food of mine, and is one of my most intense cravings. In full transparency, I have only been to Raku twice, ever, but I think about it all the time. The space it occupies in my head is completely disproportionate to my familiarity with the ins and outs of the menu, and the full scope of its charm. I will say, the little booths at their Soho location are made for soup-sipping. Huddled over big bowls of udon, mine with mini nameko mushrooms, seaweed, and a side of fried bean curd, Raku’s clientele couldn’t care less about the wait for a table or the overly-lit space. They’re all a bit more focused on the penetrating warmth from a big bowl of soup. Delicate dashi with a saltiness and depth of flavor that is instantly soothing, with thick and chewy homemade noodles and your choice of toppings—Raku is a perfect destination for your soup needs.
As far as this list goes, Raku is more a destination than most. There’s a reason they’ve expanded to three NYC locations and now to Toronto, too. Expect to wait for a table. It is always busy. Expect to be willing to wait for a table any day of the week because of how good it is.
Nha Trang One
My coworker, Caroline, and I realized last week that we work a ~20 min walk from six separate NYC neighborhoods, each with countless lunch destinations we never take advantage of. Last week, we had a revelation after a slightly longer than usual lunch, realizing that this extended break in a new environment was just what we needed to break up the day. We took a quick trip over to Chinatown in search of a much needed bowl of pho, arguably the perfect lunch food? Is that crazy?
Nha Trang One blends in on Baxter St, except for the fact that there is a line reaching from the host stand to its front entrance with those eagerly awaiting a respite from the work day. Any concern about a wait or timing was quickly dissipated as patrons walked out as quickly as they walked in, for every guest that joined the line, a table seemed to instantaneously open up.
We sat for a quick, though leisurely, lunch consisting of Diet Coke (served in a can with a straw, very classy), the best spring rolls I have ever had with still-warm fried tofu and a just-sweet enough peanut sauce, and an amazing bowl of pho ga. I ordered a side of white rice too, for good measure, which was incredibly delicious when dipped into the soup. Does anyone else do that? The soup was so simple—a light but flavorful broth with plenty of thin rice noodles, lime, jalapeños, bean sprouts, and mint. It was the no-frills you want all of your pho to be. Served up as is within minutes of ordering, accompanied by a plate full of bean sprouts, with the sambal, sriracha, hoisin trifecta on the table. If you are looking for a perfect bowl of pho (and who isn’t) this is your spot.
Navigating the odd mid-day lunch hour will have to be its very own newsletter.
2nd Ave Deli
I honestly don’t have much to say here except that this is my favorite matzo ball soup in the city. The epitome of comfort and the cure for your weird seasonal allergies that might be the flu, finding a matzo ball source that lives up to your grandma’s recipe is actually key as we enter the colder months. 2nd Ave’s plain chicken broth, minimal veggies, with options to add various starches in addition to a big fluffy matzo ball is well above average. No herbs, no weird tricks, not extra rich broth. Plus, something about the fresh challah that comes in a plastic bag when you order delivery really hearkens back to hebrew school, for some reason.
Nice and simple. No complaints.
Bonus Soup Recipes
Alison Roman’s Vegetarian Tortilla Soup (subbed out corn for black and pinto beans, used labne instead of sour cream. It was divine.)
Squash soup is one of my favorite foods. Though I don’t use a recipe, I always navigate some procedure of sauteeing mirepoix, roasting squash, and simmer it all together with gochujang and miso and vegetable broth, to be blended together into a perfect warm bowl. Make some sourdough croutons to put on top.
Some rendition of Tomato Soup, though I like to combine fresh tomatoes that I roast with crushed or whole peeled San Marzanos with a lot of butter (and a grilled cheese…)
Where to next???
just found your newsletter and binge read it. So good and now so, so hungry!!
I say I'm going to go to B&H before a movie at the Angelika every time + never do!! A good reminder to make it happen.