From Syrian lentil to southwest tomatillo, from carrot coriander to Cuban black bean/African peanut stew, soups from 26 Bloomington area restaurants will be available at the 28th annual Soup Bowl Benefit on Feb. 20.
“My favorite is the chicken velvet from Hive,” said Julio Alonso, executive director of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
The annual fundraiser for Hoosier Hills Food Bank will be a hybrid event this year, with around 300 people — about half as many people as usual — attending the event in person and the others watching a livestream on the Mandolin platform.
Soups will be ladled into hand-crafted bowls created by local potters for the people attending in person. In previous years, when up to 800 people filled the Monroe Convention Center, there were about 40 soups on the menu, Alonso said.
Another fundraiser:Music for Food: Concert by new Bloomington chapter to benefit Hoosier Hills Food Bank
There will still be vegetarian, vegan and meat-filled varieties this year. Some are easily identified, such as Bloomingfoods East’s Serrano corn chowder, and others are more mysterious, such as Rush Hour Station’s Anger Management, a spicy chili peanut soy broth with tofu served with bean sprouts and daikon.
Besides soup there will be bread from Muddy Fork Bakery, Mother Bear’s Pizza and Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse and cookies from Rainbow Bakery, Crumbl Cookies and Baked! of Bloomington.
People who won’t be attending in-person can purchase a bowl and livestream ticket for $30 per person. In-person tickets are $40 each. Livestream only tickets without a bowl cost $15 per person. Tickets can be purchased at www.hhfoodbank.org and are available until 5 pm Feb. 18.
Handcrafted bowls for livestream audience members will be randomly assigned and may be picked up from 10 am to 4 pm Feb. 19 in a drive-through style arrangement behind the convention center.
Alonso is hopeful the livestream, which will have a 48-hour replay, will attract at least 300 people. Last year’s totally virtual event drew more than a thousand viewers and netted just over $204,000.
Recipes from last year’s virtual event:Souping up your meals
The program at the convention center will be hosted by “Brother William” Morris, host of WFIU’s Soul Kitchen, and will have musical entertainment, some live and some recorded, from Wadzanai Marimba, Carrie Newcomer, Over the Rhine, Young@HeartChorus, Malcolm Dalglish, Sam Bartlett, Eric Schedler, Joanna Hyde, and Tadhg O Meachair.
List of soups, restaurants
Twenty-six Bloomington area restaurants will provide gallons of soup for the annual Soup Bowl Benefit. Here are the restaurants and the soups they’ll provide:
With meat:
Butch’s, chicken tortilla
Hive, chicken velvet
Irish Lion, spicy bean
Juannita’s, chicken soup
La Poblana, pozole
Lennie’s, Cuban black bean/African peanut stew
Morgenstern Book’s cafe, chili cactus
Siam House, tom yum
Southern Stone, elk and potato
The Tap, southwest potato
Upland duck noodle
Village Deli, lentil with bacon
Vegan:
BB’s Market, potato leek
Bloomingfoods East, serrano corn chowder
Community Kitchen, southwest tomatillo
Crazy Horse, tomato bisque
IU’s Hoosier Room, creamy rosemary mushroom
Runcible Spoon, tomato
Scenic View, spicy blue cheese tomato
Vegan:
Cardinal Spirits, roasted poblano corn chowder
IU Dining, carrot coriander
Rush Hour Station, anger management
Uptown Cafe, Syrian lens
World Foods, Turkish red lentil
To be announced:
Osteria Rago, TBA
Trojan Horse, TBA.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com, 812-331-4359 or @ckugler on Twitter.