A Souper Quest Anonymous

Where can you find the best French onion soup? Answering that question has been my quest for the last ten years of my life. I was first introduced to French onion soup when I was a young boy at a restaurant located a block from my house in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. While seated at our local restaurant, “The Store,” my solicitous father ordered a bowl of French onion soup, and as an impressionable son, I followed suit. At that time, I did not have much affection for the popular French appetizer, but as our visits to The Store increased, so did my fondness for the soup. I soon thought the soup was tasty, but I had not experienced any other versions of it, so I had no other comparisons. That would soon change.

About five years ago, my family traveled out west for my uncle’s wedding. When we landed in Arizona, the perfect father-son quest began. After a five-hour flight to Phoenix and an interminable drive north to Sedona, we arrived in the wee hours of the morning, famished and exhausted. Immediately, we ventured to the nearest restaurant (the only one open), ironically named the Brooklyn Café. We journeyed over 2,500 miles from home only to eat in a restaurant named after a borough 40 minutes from our house. My weary eyes...