What's The {Tortilla A La Mexicana} Soup?

Yesterday just may have been the very definition of the perfect soup day. It was bitterly cold out and I had the great luck of being caught in a windy, rainy mess of a storm. The freezing rain was slapping me from all directions and my jeans clung to me, soaked by the rain. We finally arrived at the dark entryway of Temazcal, one of a handful of restaurants that have taken up residence in Boston's Seaport District. The entryway, only lit by an alter of candles and a friendly hostess, helped to warm us up a bit. She guided our shivering selves through an open and spacious dining room to our table, right by a massive wall of windows sprawling out over the high tide and stormy weather. We instantly had a massive craving for a bowl of soothingly hot soup.

The folks at What's the Soup had only sent me in to check out the Sopa De Tortilla A La Mexicana ($10) but that didn't stop me from playing around on the fun iPad menu that each diner is presented with. We briefly met with Chef Todd Hall who explained that the interactive and technologically forward menu was meant to help educate diners on the menu. A good number of menu items are accompanied by not only the recipe for the dish, but the history behind it as well - which made my inner food geek happy.

Not too long after we sat down, we were presented with freshly made tortilla chips and a trio of dips- the house salsa, sweet tomatillo and black bean with queso fresco - that were presented in mini cauldrons that were resting on top of banana leaves. I found the black bean dip, a combination of smooth, spiced beans, addicting. A short time after, our soup arrived, playfully plated and piping hot.

The soup, a giant bowl of fragrantly spicy broth, arrived with four mini cauldrons of toppings - diced tomatoes, slivered fiery Serrano chilies, cubes of queso panela and thick crispy sticks of tortilla. I happily and heartily dumped my cheese into my soup along with a couple of chilies and tortilla strips. The broth itself was spiced and had a beefy quality to it and the cheese softened with the heat of the soup but still maintained its shape while the tortillas provided a very welcoming crunch to the soup.

We lingered over lunch and watched the angry waves outside lap over the docks and we fantasized about coming back on a warmer day and securing a seat on the spacious deck and enjoying a cocktail. We regretted having to brace the elements and leave but the soup bowls were empty and our day had to continue.