Recipes: Northern Italy

a vegan mushroom bisque

Italy loves soup. And honestly, I love soup! I feel like soup is not a common dish you see in chef-owned restaurants nowadays. You see it in Italian restaurants in America. You definitely see it in Italy.

When I was a private chef, my boss at the time, Habib, told me one winter: “I want a different soup every day”. I was already very comfortable making soup, but had never been challenged with variety like that. It was an odd exercise but it cemented my commitment to making soup lol. I also feel like it’s a great dish to serve for texture and aroma on a tasting menu. So it serves Mabel Gray well.

We recently ran our vegan mushroom bisque at the restaurant. This is a soup that I’ve been making for years (in one version or another). It’s rich, umami, creamy and filling. It’s a crowd-pleaser for the vegans looking for sustenance. For the lover of mushrooms, it’s just a bowl of comfort.