Ode to the Sacramento Soup Nazi

Today, nearly a year since I wrote this review on Yelp, I wanted to share a memory of the most unique, wonderful daytime dining experience I have had in this city...

It was a cloudy, drizzling April morning and I finally had the day off. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it - finally try La Bonne Soupe Cafe, after reading many positive reviews on Yelp. With the restaurant's limited hours of operation, I work too far away to make eating there a possibility under normal circumstances. So, I planned my trip carefully, parking at the Westfield parking lot, walking 2 blocks or so to the restaurant, and arriving right about the time it opens, just a little before 10:45am, before the lunch rush.

The Frenchman does carry somewhat the air of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. He's a little abrupt, but I merely found myself marveling at his presence of mind with a line so long and only him to man the station. He created each sandwich as carefully and attentively as if there had been a single customer in line.

I chose the goat cheese with olive and roasted pepper (a daily special) and the cream of vegetable soup, then sat down at a table and perused one of the books on the bookshelf about the meaning of names as I enjoyed the most perfectly crafted lunch I've had in ages. The sandwich consisted of a good baguette (crispy on the outside, soft on the inside) filled with lettuce, tomato, mild, creamy goat cheese, just one olive and one red pepper, both cut in half, and a few secret sauces that linger in your mouth throughout the day like a haunting melody. The key here is quality over quantity, in true French style. What vegetables were in the cream of vegetable soup? I neither know nor care. Perfect temperature, perfect spices, perfect blend of flavors.

My meal at La Bonne Soupe Cafe was more than a lunch. The food and ambiance transported me back to a Parisian cafe in springtime, flooding me with memories of a study abroad long ago. Would that I could return daily. Alas, I shall await my next day off.