Soop (Berkeley)
|
1511 Shattuck Ave |
 |
Soop is a great, unique, little takeout stall in the upscale Epicurious Garden. Obviously, they make soup, with a few vegetarian selections every day. I think they also make some sauces. You can buy either pint or quart sizes.
With a hearty piece of whole wheat sourdough, or fresh cornbread thrown in, Soop’s soups make for great, simple meals. I like the Thai Red Lentil with Coconut, but I keep coming back to the Green Soup, which is a puree of green split peas, zucchini, spinach, basil, parsley and celery.
It’s not like I’m a purist about food choices, or even someone who thinks it’s necessary to follow all the unwritten rules, but I have to admit to being a little shocked to see people mix, match, and combine different soups. I admit that when I was a kid I probably mixed Coke and 7-up from the soda fountain more than a few times, but truly that was more scientific experimentation than a well thought out culinary construct. You only have to mix coke with Fanta Orange once to realize just how wrong you can be. Still, I’m told, and I’ve witnessed, people adding the green soup to other soups, and swearing by it. Really! Well, okay, if you want to knock your socks off, get the Green Soup, and then walk across the street to the Cheeseboard bakery when the Zampano have just come out of the oven. With red-pepper flakes, a little bit of melted Parmesan cheese on top, cornmeal sprinkled all over, and just enough olive oil to make your fingers shiny when you pull it apart, Zampanos are the perfect bread to dip into Soop.
