He had so many chestnuts left over, he offered it for four more evenings. Now it's showing up as something of a regular special.
At Basque-themed Tinto, part of the Garces compound (now including Village Whiskey) at 20th and Sansom Streets, it's soap de castaño and in its third year. It's likely to stay on the menu until March, says chef David Conn, a warm, rich bowl, spiked with a touch of brandy and finished with a hit of honey and truffle - beloved by regulars.
(In Navarra, on the flank of Spain's northern Basque region, a very different end-of-meal version dates to ancient times: Roasted chestnuts are simmered in milk with a cinnamon stick and sugar, then baked under a crust of sliced bread for a dessert soup.)
A Portuguese contender waded in recently - the cenoura e castanhas at Koo-Zee-Doo, the charming, 42-seat dining room on Second Street near Spring Garden Avenue. In this case, it's a velvety puree of carrots and roasted chestnuts. (Chef David Gilberg originally made the soup, inspired by his wife Carla's Portuguese mother, with Hubbard squash and a mild, floury sausage called farinheira. The switch to carrot and chestnut, with submerged grapes instead of meat, was aimed at adding another vegan dish to the lineup.
And on a cold night, before a supper of roasted vegetables and slivered duck over baked rice, it starts you off nice and gently.
A fresh chestnut, of course, is a thing of its own - a nut, but tenderer and sweeter, with a bit of the lima bean's starchiness about it. The expression "a hard nut" was not meant to describe the chestnut.
