Souper Bowl XV - Bethlehem 2025
Stamp it in your soup passport.
Next edition
The 2027 date isn't out yet
Usually held around early February.
Based on 2 past editions
Event Details
- Date & Time
- Sunday, February 02, 2025
Programme
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Soup tasting and public vote among 15 soups from nine local restaurants and NCC Culinary Arts
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Judging and awards: people's choice, judges' choice, most unique, best seafood-based, best cream-based, best vegan and best meat-based soup
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Also on the programme
Musikfest Cafe
Soup competition: 15 soups from nine local restaurants and Northampton Community College Culinary Arts; people's choice and judges' choice awards plus category prizes (most unique, seafood-based, cream-based, vegan, meat-based).
About This Event
ArtsQuest's annual Souper Bowl soup contest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, held in ArtsQuest's Musikfest Cafe; this 15th edition took place on a Sunday. Attendees and judges chose among 15 soups from nine local restaurants plus the Northampton Community College Culinary Arts Department. ArtsQuest, a nonprofit, uses the event to showcase cooking as an art form and to boost spending at local restaurants. ArtsQuest's Palette and Pour won four prizes, including the people's and judges' choice awards.
The cause
To showcase cooking as one of the art forms ArtsQuest highlights through the year, and to boost spending at local restaurants.
History
The 15th edition of ArtsQuest's annual Souper Bowl, the first in recent years without a live band in the Musikfest Cafe. ArtsQuest is considering bringing a live band back next year. Winners: Palette and Pour (people's choice, judges' choice, most unique, best seafood-based), Molly's Irish Grille (best cream-based), NCC Culinary Arts (best vegan), La Maya (best meat-based).
On the menu
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tomato tikka masala
By NCC Culinary Arts students (Northampton Community College Culinary Arts Department)
Indian-inspired; won best vegan soup
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Mujaddara
By Forks Mediterranean Deli
West Asian
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colcannon soup
By McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub
Irish
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tapioca and purple sweet potato soup
By Palette and Pour (ArtsQuest)
Topped with mango and dried banana chips; cold, silky, creamy, a bit sweet and a bit fruity, with a touch of holiday spice; won people's choice, judges' choice and most unique soup
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chorizo crab chowder
By Palette and Pour (ArtsQuest)
Won best seafood-based entry
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cheesy chicken chowder
By Molly’s Irish Grille
Won best cream-based soup
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Irish colcannon soup
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tapioca and purple sweet potato soup topped with mango and dried banana chips
Who's who
Organised by
- Ryan Hill ArtsQuest senior director of programming
- ArtsQuest (SteelStacks, Bethlehem)
Taking part
- Palette and Pour ArtsQuest restaurant in the ArtsQuest Center; big winner with four prizes (people's choice, judges' choice, most unique, best seafood-based)
- Amoya Walford Culinary supervisor with Palette and Pour
- Northampton Community College Culinary Arts Department Competitor (NCC Culinary Arts students); won best vegan soup
- Forks Mediterranean Deli Restaurant entry: Mujaddara
- McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub Restaurant entry: Irish colcannon soup
- Panchitas Kitchen Restaurant entry: sancocho
- Molly’s Irish Grille Won best cream-based soup (cheesy chicken chowder)
- La Maya Tortilla soup named best meat-based creation
Also involved
- Sally Jeffreys Patron from Bethlehem who attends every year with friends
Good to know
- No live band this year: no stage, which opened up the floor.
- Winners
- Palette and Pour (ArtsQuest) won people's, judges' and most unique with a tapioca and purple sweet potato soup; NCC Culinary Arts best vegan; La Maya best meat-based
Everything the announcement says
Every detail, as the festival announced it.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Judges and attendees alike crowned an unusual entry from ArtsQuest's Palette and Pour restaurant as the best soup in Bethlehem on Sunday. The decision came at ArtsQuest's annual Souper Bowl showdown.
Attendees could vote for their favorite soup from a total of 15 dishes created by nine local restaurants, plus the Northampton Community College Culinary Arts Department.
This year's entries included flavors from across the globe: Indian-inspired tomato tikka masala from the NCC Culinary Arts students, West Asian Mujaddara from Forks Mediterranean Deli, Irish colcannon soup from McCarthy's Red Stag Pub and Latin American sancocho from Panchitas Kitchen, to name a few.
Sunday's big winner, Palette and Pour, took home four prizes in all, including both the people's and judges' choice awards for its tapioca and purple sweet potato soup topped with mango and dried banana chips.
The soup — cold, silky, creamy, a bit sweet and a bit fruity, with a touch of holiday spice on the finish — also won the award for the most unique soup.
It's "amazing and different," said Amoya Walford, a culinary supervisor with Palette and Pour, which is based in the ArtsQuest Center. "At first, I was, like, 'Oh, it's a milky cold soup?' until you taste it and you get all the sweetness and the flavors. And then the crunch and the fruit, then it's 'OK, I'll have another bowl.'"
Judges also declared Palette and Pour's chorizo crab chowder the best seafood-based entry.
Molly's Irish Grille took home the prize for best cream-based soup with its cheesy chicken chowder.
NCC Culinary Arts won best vegan soup with its tomato tikka masala.
La Maya's tortilla soup was named the best meat-based creation.
For ArtsQuest, the annual event is a chance to showcase cooking as one of the many art forms the group highlights throughout the year, said Ryan Hill, the nonprofit's senior director of programming. Plus, it's a chance to boost spending at some of the region's local restaurants, Hill said.
Attendees, too, appreciate the chance to sample several of the Lehigh Valley's restaurants in one place. "You get to experience some restaurants which you may not know about, so we can then be patrons of those places," said Sally Jeffreys of Bethlehem, who said she comes to the competition every year with a group of friends. "It's very social for us, but it's really great to see and experience really good food. People care about what they're making — you taste it in what's offered."
Sunday's Souper Bowl, the 15th edition, is the first in recent years without a live band in ArtsQuest's Musikfest Cafe, where the contest takes place.
"While we like the idea of having a live band, not [having one] allowed us to not have a stage in, which opened up the floor a little bit more," Hill said. "That always feels a little weird, to put a band up and say, 'Hey, nobody's gonna really actually pay attention to you, but they're all going to be shoving soup in their face.'"
ArtsQuest is considering whether to bring a live band back next year, Hill said.
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Location
Musikfest Café, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 18015, Pennsylvania, United States
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