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With the polar vortex, it’s perfect soup weather — and NYC has a hot new option for a warm bowl.
Brothers Andrew and Jonathan Schnipper — who founded the now-defunct Hale and Hearty chain 30 years ago — have opened Schnipper’s Quality Soups at the location of the first H and H (849 Lexington Ave., Upper East Side).
Serving up richly flavored broths, bisques and chowders, made fresh without thickener or additives, it fills a grab-and-go soup void that was left by the demise of Hale and Hearty.
The Schnippers sold Hale and Hearty in 2006. The new owners over-expanded to more than 30 locations at the expense of quality.
Rich, heavy options, such as “loaded potato” squeezed out lighter varieties. Cups were often so packed with solid elements, it seemed the popular chain had forgotten soup was meant to be liquid.
It 2022, all of the Hale and Hearty locations abruptly closed.
The Schnippers, meanwhile, launched a new fast-casual concept — Schnipper’s — in 2009, serving up burgers and hot dogs.
“We detoured into making hamburgers and comfort food, but it didn’t mean we didn’t love soup any more,” Andrew said.
After customers repeatedly told them “there’s no place to get soup,” they decided it was time to return to their spoonable roots.
The seven cups I tasted at Schnipper’s Quality Soups were masterpieces, thanks to a well-staffed kitchen that makes just about everything, even salad dressings, from scratch.
Chicken-vegetable with optional curly noodles (no extra charge) is the No. 1 seller for good reason. The broth is wonderfully rich and strong, the perfect base for a classic mix of chicken breast, carrots and parsley.
My favorite choice, though, was chicken-and-sausage jambalaya starting with the Cajun “holy trinity” of onions, celery and green peppers; abundant spices; garlic; rice and — in a Polish twist — herb-tinted kielbasa instead of the more heavily spiced andouille.
Six classic choices ($4.50 to $7) are on offer each day, along with a rotating lineup of seven or eight specials ($7 to $11). Such abundant choices are rare in Manhattan. Le Pain Quotidien, for example, makes fine soup but has only one or two choices a day.
Nodding to current health concerns, there are numerous gluten-free choices, including lusciously thick black bean and an alluring Indian mulligatawny.
“We’re careful to have gluten only in dishes that need them,” Andrew said.
“We’re not using seed oils, only olive oil,” he added. “And we’re cooking exclusively with sea salt, which is lower sodium than regular Kosher salt.”
None of the new soups are exactly the same as they were at Hale and Hearty — the company that bought the name also owns the recipes. Tomato-rice was both spicier and sweeter than the one sold at the original H and H decade ago.
But the differences aren’t necessarily radical. “Tomato-cheddar is still tomato-cheddar. We’re not making pineapple cheddar,” Andrew joked.
There are freshly made sandwiches ($6), too. I loved heirloom tomatoes with lemon chive ricotta on focaccia, a summery treat in January.
The tomato slices are luscious purple Kumatos — another menu surprise.
At this point, the brothers are unsure if they will open more soupy locations.
“At the end of the day, my honest answer is, we’re now focused on one restaurant,” Andrew said. “We’re very cautious.”
But, he continued, “We have hospitality in our DNA. If we’re making people happy here, it behooves us to make them happy somewhere else.”
Only one Manhattan place offers a comparable variety of top-grade soups on a daily basis — the Original Soup Kitchen (the spot founded by “Soup Nazi” Ali “Al” Yeganeh who’s no longer involved in daily operations) on West 55th Street.
But you must stand freezing on the sidewalk as you wait in line.
Schnipper’s finally brings great soup back in from the cold.
