The Changing of the Soup
When I learned that Panera was going to open in Webster, I hit their web site and checked the menu. I was hoping to have some variety to break up the monotony of the existing lunch choices. They've delivered fairly well in that regard. They always have some seasonal items, the nature of which strikes me more as variety for variety's sake than motivated by the availability of ingredients. When they opened, they were already close to the end of Forest Mushroom Soup's seasonal run. I didn't get to try it, but it drew raves from coworkers. I no longer recall either of the seasonal soups served in the intervening quarter, but for the past three months, I've been there almost three days a week just to get the Parisian Mushroom Bisque. So tasty. I knew, though, that a day would come when there would be nine months without. One of the employees noticed my affinity for the bisque, and remarked that it was her favorite, too. She also let slip that there was another mushroom soup in the pipeline, though she hadn't had it yet. Something spicy, she hinted. I called today to see what the new soup might be, though I didn't expect it to be mushroom-based because PMB had been a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday soup. Now it's Portobello and Roasted Garlic Bisque. Still mushroom, still a bisque, almost identical flavor! Score! The addition of extra garlic is not a problem in my book or my mouth.
I just hit the web site to see what the other soup of the season is. Oh, here's the nutritional info on the P&RGB. Hmm . . . is 1.01 grams of sodium and 16 grams of fat and 50 mg of cholesterol a lot for eight ounces of soup? Can I at least say "it's better than McDonald's"? Oh, hell. Compared with a cheeseburger, the soup has more sodium (1010 mg vs. 700 mg), more cholesterol (50 mg vs. 40 mg), and more fat (16 g vs. 12 g). *headdesk* The soup only wins out on calories (310 vs. 220). Hmm . . . but how does the whole meal compare? If I pair the soup with half of a Bacon Turkey Bravo, I'm looking at 2435 mg of sodium, 605 calories, and 30 grams of fat. Discounting the beverage, the meal formerly known as Value Meal 2 would be 1700 mg of sodium, 960 calories, and 40 grams of fat. I'm shocked to see McDonald's winning on sodium. I'm even more shocked that a medium fries is less than one-tenth the sodium of a Bacon Turkey Bravo. D'oh.
After posting the entry, I realized that I'd skipped the baguette segment that accompanies any Pick Two at Panera. That adds 130 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, and 270 mg of sodium. That's not enough to toggle the comparison, but it does push Panera even farther away on sodium.
I just hit the web site to see what the other soup of the season is. Oh, here's the nutritional info on the P&RGB. Hmm . . . is 1.01 grams of sodium and 16 grams of fat and 50 mg of cholesterol a lot for eight ounces of soup? Can I at least say "it's better than McDonald's"? Oh, hell. Compared with a cheeseburger, the soup has more sodium (1010 mg vs. 700 mg), more cholesterol (50 mg vs. 40 mg), and more fat (16 g vs. 12 g). *headdesk* The soup only wins out on calories (310 vs. 220). Hmm . . . but how does the whole meal compare? If I pair the soup with half of a Bacon Turkey Bravo, I'm looking at 2435 mg of sodium, 605 calories, and 30 grams of fat. Discounting the beverage, the meal formerly known as Value Meal 2 would be 1700 mg of sodium, 960 calories, and 40 grams of fat. I'm shocked to see McDonald's winning on sodium. I'm even more shocked that a medium fries is less than one-tenth the sodium of a Bacon Turkey Bravo. D'oh.
After posting the entry, I realized that I'd skipped the baguette segment that accompanies any Pick Two at Panera. That adds 130 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, and 270 mg of sodium. That's not enough to toggle the comparison, but it does push Panera even farther away on sodium.