Periodically PhilaFoodie profiles a specific dish in a Philadelphia restaurant, this week he describes Tinto’s Sopa de Castaño, a truffled chestnut soup. And being PhilaFoodie he of course suggests a wine to accompany the soup.

The sweet, velvety soup is poured around a pillow of savory duck and mushroom hash that’s crowned with a fried quail egg. The hash’s chewy royal trumpet mushrooms parallel a delicate whisper of truffle oil to provide deep layers of woodsy and earthy goodness. Flecks of pistachio add texture while simultaneously echoing the soup’s nutty core. So intense, sinfully rich and satisfying on a primal level—one bowl of this soup will make even the most faithful man or woman feel like they just cheated on their spouse.

Plate Profile – Tinto’s Sopa de Castaño [PhilaFoodie]
Tinto [Official Site]

Michael Klein gets the skinny on Legal Sea Foods Boston Chowder.

The secret says owner Roger Berkowitz is the fish stock and a Vietnamese chef named Sonny.

Boston chowdah [Good Taste, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Rick Nichols tries Xochitl�s sopa Azteca and then tries to recreate it at home.

There’s a tangle of crispy, fried blue tortilla “noodles” in it. And big, lush chunks of avocado. And cubes of soft, Chihuahua cheese, and a zigzagging drizzle across the top of rich, Mexican crema, which is akin to sour cream, except it isn’t very sour.
But otherwise, the bowl is a dry gulch. The savory broth arrives by separate delivery, poured steaming and adobe-red from a small pitcher, the better to keep the tortilla strips from heading south, going limp and soggy, the Achilles’ heel of most tortilla soups.

A tortilla soup comes with a few surprises [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Xochitl [Official Site]

These chilly winter nights (finally!) make us think soup. So why not head to one of these gastropubs that always have a soup special or four on the menu.

• Johnny Brenda’s
• N. 3rd
• Royal Tavern
• Standard Tap
• Ten Stone