Souper Sanford

Sanford's second Thursday of every month Alive After 5 street party in November was themed "Souper Sanford" and featured a soup contest. Entrants in two categories, Home Cook and Restaurant, each made about 5 gallons of soup. For the price of a $7 spoon and card, AA5 attendees were able to sample some or all of teh 15 soups and vote on their favorites. 

Every month on the second Thursday, historic Sanford's First Street is blocked off from Oak Street to Sanford Avenue and merchants and vendors set up along the street for Central Florida's largest and best monthly street party. Some vendors hand out food samples, some trinkets and promotional material, some offer mini-massages. Often there's a bounce house for kids. The event is kid and dog friendly. There are usually several music venues. And of course, a beer tent. Thousands of knowing area residents gather from 5-8 PM and party in the streets. Each month has a theme, and in November it's Souper Sanford. At the end of the night, the votes were tabulated and winners announced. 

But first, my take on the soups. I sampled all 15 soups and was stuffed by the end of the evening. Here is a list of the soup makers and what they offered: 

1. Restaurant - Celery City Craft - Beer Cheese soup (of course!)
2. Restaurant - Christo's - Broccoli Cheese soup
3. Restaurant - The Breezeway - She-Crab Chowder (last year's winner, if I remember correctly!)
4. Restaurant - Zorba's - Avgolemono Soup (Greek lemon and chicken flavor)
5. Home Cook - Angela's African Braiding - Jamaican Chicken soup
6. Restaurant - Mattie's Delectable Desserts - Seafood Chowder
7. Home Cook - GCI Guys - Broccoli Cheese soup
8. Restaurant - Fred's Market - Bell Pepper and Rice soup
9. Home Cook - Sanford Barber Shop - Gumbo, Louisiana style
10. Home Cook - Windshield Specialist - Chicken soup
11. Home Cook - Doc Paper Scissors - Matzo Ball soup
12. Restaurant - Smiling Bison - Zellwood Corn soup
13. Home Cook - Magpie's Modern General - New Mexican Chili Chicken soup
14. Restaurant - Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe - Lentil soup
15. Restaurant - Wop's Hops - Italian Wedding soup

Before I write about my favorites--and I had some--a few general comments. First of all, in general, the competition this year was certainly stepped up. Last year there were a few soups that were just not good, this year, they were all good, some better than others, but none of them lacked seasoning. Second, I'd recommend that for next year the organizers and vendors consider using 1-ounce ladles. 15 soups at 1 ounce apiece is rather more than i can eat, and some gave out closer to 2 ounce portions. I think a one ounce portion is enough and would also level the playing field a bit. 

Now for my favorites in each category. My vote went for the first in each, but it was a hard decision, there were a number of great choices in each category.

Restaurant:

• Corn soup from The Smiling Bison got my vote here, but only by a hair. The sweet corn flavor was outstanding and the creaminess made this a real standout for me
• Lentil Soup from Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe was a close runner up. Hollerbach's has been making wonderful soups for a long time, and they do not skimp on the ingredients. You can tell this was homemade, nothing from a can or bottle.
• She-crab soup from The Breezeway, last year's winner, was also pretty gosh darned good.
• Bell Pepper and Rice soup from Fred's Market was a surprise to me because I am not a bell pepper fan, yet the pepper flavor was very subtle and so i actually enjoyed their soup

Home Cook:

• New Mexican Chili Chicken soup by Magpie's Modern General was far and above my first choice, in large part due to the carefully roasted chili flavor--it did not overpower the soup, was not overly spicy and in my  mind  was actually the best of all the soups I sampled, and even more so because it was by a home cool. Outstanding and definitely restaurant-quality in my mind.
• Mazto Ball soup from Doc Paper Scissors was also excellent. The chicken broth made this soup a real standout, it tasted fresh and homemade to me. And the addition of the matzo ball was perfect. 
• The Gumbo by the Sanford Barber Shop was also a standout in my mind, in part because it seemed very authentic and contained all the flavors I'd expect in a good gumbo without being overly spicy. They did a nice job as well.

And the winners by popular vote were:

Home Cook: Magpie's Modern General's New Mexican Chili Chicken soup.

Restaurant: Fred's Market's Bell Pepper Rice soup.

But again, I have to admin that the competition this year was really stepped up a few notches. There were not soups that I did not enjoy, and I'd have eaten a bowl of any one of them for my dinner. I did sample all 15 and was stuffed at the end of the night. Alive After 5 is one of my favorite monthly events in Sanford and I rarely  miss it, every month on the second Thursday of the month, 5-8 PM. 

By the way, here is my ballot, before I marked my winners and turned it in. Yes, i tried all 15!

The Tennessee Truffle

I've eaten at The Tennessee Truffle in downtown Sanford three times now. There's a reason I keep coming back, and that's excellent and adventurous food, with local, fresh ingredients, done right!

The Tennessee Truffle is Sanford's first "pop-up" restaurant--the idea is to pop up a new concept restaurant quick and easy for 30 days, and see what happens. If it takes of, then it'll be around a lot longer. But, if in 30 days it flounders, well then time to move on. Based on my experience there, I hope they're around for a lot longer than 30 days, I really liked everything I've had there. More about the concept later.

My first chance at tasting their food was even before it opened--I was invited to write a blog about it on the Sanford365 blog. Lucky me, because it was great and I got a personal preview. Read that article for more. 

It was so good, I had to go back--on their second day open! I went for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had the pork loin sandwich on a biscuit and potato salad. I added on a side of collard greens as well. The pork loin was excellent, tender and juicy, not dry. it was topped with a marmalade or chutney made with sweet onions and applesauce--the perfect balance for pork. I will say that eating a sandwich on a biscuit is a bit of a challenge--the biscuit was very tender and flaky. But it was oh, so good. My potato salad was light and refreshing, red potatoes dressed with some mayo and just a bit of red onion and red bell pepper. Truly delicious. The collards as well were very good with nice chunks of what i believe were duroc pork--they were tender and flavorful.

Tommy had the BLT, but not your ordinary BLT. The bacon was duroc pork. He found it a bit salty and a bit hard to eat on the biscuit. The lettuce and tomato were very fresh. To go with he had a warm macaroni and tomato salad. This was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. It was very, very good! 

On our second trip there, I went in specifically for one thing: the Sausage Gravy & Biscuit. I was not at all disappointed. This may well be the best sausage gravy and biscuit I've ever had! Ever! First off, the biscuit was exquisite, large, tender, flaky, buttery--just a lot of goodness.The gravy was packed full of very flavorful sausage and had a hint of fennel in it. This was a perfect counterpoint to the chervil that graced the  top of the dish--it added that over-the-top element to what was already a great dish. I could easily find myself addicted to this dish, it was that good.

Along with this I ordered a single egg, over medium. It was perfectly seasoned and cooked perfectly. Tommy had two eggs over medium and some toast which he really liked. He also had some local honey over the toast and that was a big hit as well. I'd certainly go back, and there are a few other things on the menu that i really, really want to try.

The concept of The Tennessee Truffle is true southern cooking. Chef Nat Russel grew up in Tennessee and the restaurant gets its name from pickled ramps (made in-house) which in Tennessee is known as a Tennessee Truffle--now you know the rest of the story. They specialize in locally sourced, organic, and fresh ingredients and the menu may change based on availability. On the preview day, I had the privilege of sampling five other dishes as well. I started off with the creamed corn, made in house with fresh Ocoee corn, some pickled ramps (the Tennessee truffle), and a dash of espelette, an mild pepper. Excellent. 

After that it was on to the Ansen Mills Grits, a really outstanding dish and probably the best grits I've ever had. We moved on to some roasted baby carrots (yellow and orange) served with a sort of whole grain mustard and tarragon sauce. Again, a hit. Then it was on to a Bibb lettuce salad that was very fresh and had a great dressing. We finished with a Chicken Salad--more fresh, what more can I say. 

Tennessee Truffle is the brain child of Nat Russell, formerly an executive chef at a fine dining restaurant in Winter Park. He sees the potential and has taken a risk. From my view, he's made a great choice and Sanford is lucky to have him. I hope he's around a lot longer than 30 days, but is suggest you run there now (Tuesday-Saturday, 7:30 AM to 2 PM) and not chance it!