Chefs bring their game to the 13th annual Souper Bowl, a fundraising event for The Food Depot

For the second year in a row, La Casa Sena's chocolate red chile dessert soup took home the annual Souper Bowl's Best Soup Award.

Patrick Gharrity, the restaurant's executive chef, said he conjured up the recipe last year for New Year's Eve, and the chocolate soup was a huge hit.

"It's really simple," Gharrity said of the recipe. "It's just cream, chocolate, red chile powder and a little salt."

The chocolate soup -- which is not spicy despite the presence of Chimayó chile powder -- is now a regular item on the restaurant's dessert menu, he said. The soup also won Best Cream Soup at Saturday's event, held at the Driscoll Fitness Center at the College of Santa Fe.

The Best Chunky Soup award went to Pranzo Italian Grill for the restaurant's seafood sausage Bourbon Street gumbo. Dinner For Two won Best Vegetarian Soup for its truffled wild mushroom soup.

LeMoyne's Landing and Rainbow Vision Santa Fe shared the honor for Best Seafood Soup as the balloting ended in a tie. LeMoyne's offered up eggplant, crab and coconut soup, while Rainbow Vision served Rainbow Sunset seafood soup.

The Souper Bowl -- this was the 13th -- is held every year on Super Bowl weekend as a fundraiser for The Food Depot, a food bank that gathers food for public and private providers.

New Mexico is ranked first in the country in the number of people who are "food insecure," said Sherry Hooper, Food Depot director. That means thousands of residents don't know where their next meal is coming from, she said. The state also ranks second in the country in the number of hungry people who are actually suffering from lack of food, she said.

"We can't keep up with the demand," Hooper said. "We need more donors."

She said the nonprofit's goal was to sell 1,000 tickets and raise $35,000. More than 1,200 tickets were sold, she said.

"I'm thrilled," Hooper said of the turnout. "Santa Fe really embraces this event."

Hooper refused to reveal her favorite soup -- "I think they're all wonderful," she said -- but others who attended weren't so shy.

Barbara Coppola of Santa Fe said she's been to 12 of the 13 Souper Bowls, and that her favorite this year was the winter harvest mushroom soup from Baleen at Inn and Spa at Loretto.

"It just blew up in my mouth," she said.

Lynn Morrow of Santa Fe was attending her first Souper Bowl but said she'd be back. Morrow's favorite soup was the organic carrot, Marsala wine and ginger soup from Café Pasqual's. "It's a beautiful soup," she said.

Roland Richter, owner of Joe's Diner, offered up a Thai coconut cream soup created by his sous chef Lloyd Lawie that was one of the most popular, judging by the voting board. Richter said a soup can reveal a lot about the restaurant it came from.

"An event like this can really tell you what a restaurant is made of," he said.

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LA CASA SENA’S CHOCOLATE SOUP
(Serves 4 as starter)
1 quart heavy cream
11 ounces premiummilk
chocolate, chopped
1⁄2 teaspoon Chimayó
red chile powder
Salt to taste
For serving: whipped cream, toasted piñons, fresh berries   Heat heavy cream to just
belowscalding. Add the chopped milk chocolate and remove from heat.  Mix until smooth, then strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in the chile, cover and chill overnight. Serve cold garnished with freshly whipped cream, toasted piñons and fresh berries.

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WHO’S WHO OF THE BOWL

Participating restaurants included Back Road Pizza, Baleen at Inn and Spa at Loretto, Blue Heron at Sunrise Springs, Bon Appetit, Café Pasqual’s, Cowgirl Bar and Grill, East Mountain Grill, El Canon, El Farol, Gelato Benissimo, Himalayan Cuisine, Jinja Bar and Bistro, Joe’s Diner, Kingston Residence of Santa Fe, La Boca, La Casa Sena, La Plazuela at La Fonda Hotel, LeMoyne’s Landing, Pranzo Italian Grill, Rainbow Vision of Santa Fe, Rio Chama, Santa Fe Brewing Co. and Whole Foods
Market.

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