Cleveland Park residents are fortunate to have many excellent dining options in our neighborhood. There is yet another healthy dining alternative available, but you won’t see it by driving down Connecticut Avenue. She may not have an overbearing presence, but we should all rest a little easier at night. A Souperhero lives among us.
Sara Polon is a Cleveland Park resident who began the transition into her alter ego Soupergirl by renting kitchen space at Sabores to prepare homemade soups. She has since moved kitchen spaces but for more than two years she has continued to make healthy soups for delivery or pickup in Cleveland Park, among many other locations in the D.C. Metro area. This may be the first you have heard of this local dining option; Soupergirl does not have the visibility that would come from having a storefront in Cleveland Park. Like any good superhero, she heroically and quietly awaits a call from the commissioner and looks in the sky for the Soup Signal to bravely rescue the community from limited dining options. Alternately, she also sends out a mailing list so that the good soup lovers of the D.C. area can purchase her soups online and pick them up at a designated location. Delivery is also available for orders of $14.50 within the delivery area.
Note: It is complete speculation on my part that she answers to a Soup Signal that shines in the night sky. I feel it is the obvious assumption since there are no phone booths in Cleveland Park to enable her to don her cape discreetly.
Each week, Soupergirl releases a new menu that includes two soups (one chunky, one pureed), a salad, desserts and pita chips. The soups are always creatively named and are introduced via their creative backstory. Soupergirl lives in a world where sweet potatoes frolick; Inigo Montoya seeks not a man who killed his father, but a soup recipe; and mental vacations are taken with Tom Cruise. On Monday mornings, the new weekly menu is sent out to the mailing list. The soup descriptions are always colorful, and are followed by a list of ingredients after the description. For those of you who are too busy to read stories of personified vegetables on a Monday morning; you can always skip to the end and just read the ingredients.
While I can only speculate on Soupergirl’s use of phone booths and bat-signals, I needn’t speculate about the product she sells. I have ordered soups in the past and they have always been extremely good quality. All of her selections are vegetarian, kosher and made from scratch with natural ingredients. They are never too heavy on the salt, so that customers can season them to their individual tastes. Since they are made fresh, all orders must be placed by Thursday on the week the menu is released. After the orders are in, all soups are handmade by Soupergirl and Soupermom (who also shares her weekly wisdom to those on the mailing list) with the ever-expanding Soupergirl crew. Soupergirl will also be expanding and adding a storefront location in Takoma Park very soon. Not to worry, Sara has reassured Cleveland Park 2.0 that they intend to continue and grow the pick-up and delivery service.
There are several pick-up locations throughout the D.C. Metro area. In Cleveland Park, orders can be picked up at Weygandt Wines in Sam’s Park & Shop. Orders must be picked up on the Tuesday through Thursday following the date they are ordered online. Weygandt also suggests wine pairings for each menu and offers a discount on these selections.
