Exciting Soup Showdown at London’s First SOUPer Bowl

A group of chefs will go head-to-head Thursday bringing their best soups to the table at London’s first-ever SOUPer Bowl luncheon.

Three London organizations, Growing Chefs! Ontario, Urban Roots London and Clayworx: Ceramic Arts Learning Centre, are joining together for a fundraiser that celebrates farm fresh produce, locally-made soup and handmade pottery, all while raising funds to address food insecurity. 

“There’s a bigger need everywhere you go in the community,” said Growing Chefs! Ontario founder and executive director Andrew Fleet.

“There are just fewer funds available for organizations. Government funding is being cut. Individual households are having to tighten up their budgets. We have less people giving every year.”

Urban Roots is providing the produce that the Growing Chefs team use to make their soups, while Clayworx volunteers have made nearly 400 one-of-a-kind ceramic soup bowls. 

Ticketholders can visit Growing Chefs’ The Grove location at 900 King St., where they will pick up a bowl made by local artists and fill it with up to 10 different soups during the 90-minute event. 

Chefs at Growing Chefs! Ontario use produce from Urban Roots London while preparing their entries to the first ever SOUPer Bowl. (Kendra Seguin/)

The SOUPer Bowl was inspired by an international charity project called Empty Bowls, which used to run in London, Fleet said, but organizers wanted to create something more grassroots.

“We were venting about how the last thing the city needs is three more gala dinners or golf tournaments, yet we all need to fundraise and figure out how to get the resources we need to do our work,” Fleet explained. “So, we came together and said, ‘Why don’t we partner up?’”

Funds raised through the event will be split among the three organizations, Fleet said, which will ultimately go into the London community through initiatives like Growing Chefs’ food education programs and Urban Roots’ produce distribution. 

Growing Chefs! Ontario founder and executive director Andrew Fleet says by bringing three local organizations together to host the SOUPer Bowl fundraiser, the groups can “maximize the impact” to the community. (Kendra Seguin/)

Collaboration and competition

While the event focuses on coming together, it’s also a competition for participating chefs as guests will have a chance to vote on their favorite soup.

Growing Chefs executive chef Katherine Jones spent Wednesday in the kitchen preparing her borscht, a soup containing beets, potatoes and cabbage. 

“I think that it is now the perfect weather for soup. We’re just heading into fall; we’re getting ready to be warm and cozy; and right now all the most amazing vegetables are ready,” Jones said.

Nine other local chefs also spent time working in different corners of the kitchen perfecting their signature soups.

“We’re not normally a competitive bunch of people but we are very much rolling with that SOUPer Bowl mentality,” Jones said. “It is very cutthroat.”

Attendees at London’s first SOUPer Bowl will have a chance to pick and take home a handmade ceramic bowl made by local artists at Clayworx. (Kendra Seguin/CBC London)

Just three blocks away another kind of preparation was happening at Clayworx where volunteers spent time carefully packing bowls for delivery.

“Everyone comes into art with their own style; that makes each bowl unique,” said Clayworx executive director Jen Pastorius.

A lot of these bowls were collaborative pieces; Pastorius shared that one artist would make them while another decorated them along with someone else glazing them.

The three organizations hope they can turn this SOUPer Bowl into an annual Thanksgiving weekend tradition according to Pastorius.

This Thursday there will be two servings of SOUPer Bowl: one at 11 a. m., followed by another at 1 p. m., where residents can buy tickets via Growing Chefs! Ontario’s website.

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