City of Minneapolis. Two large picture windows facing north near the top of the Wells Fargo tower with no buildings to obstruct my view of the Mississippi rambling northward. Peregrine falcons nest across the street and animate the scenery gorgeously swooping and diving. The only downside is there are no buildings to stop the bracing north winter wind from blowing directly on me. It gets really really cold in here.
Be assured, I am not a cold wimp. I turn up the heat to 65 degrees when I have guests in the winter and my neighbors still bring their slippers and sweaters when they visit. There’s an entire wardrobe of winter undergarments in my closet. But some days, despite being dressed for a winter adventure to go sit in my cubicle, my bones catch a chill and I just want to go home and hop in bed to unthaw. Or, as I recently discovered, I can go to La Belle Crepe in the Medical Arts building and get pho for lunch.
Pho is the pan- Asian noodle soup that consists of broth, glass noodles, a protein, and variety of accoutrement that are dumped into and lightly cooked by the hot broth. The key is the broth. The broth at LBC is not house made- but, Alain, the snazzy French owner, assured me there’s only one hole in the wall pho shop in the Twin Cities that does make its own. He’s tried theirs and likes his better. Alain is very proud of the broth he uses- and he should be. It is clear and crisp with aromas of ginger and lemongrass.
LBC offers two pho variations- one with meatballs and one with tofu and shiitake. (Note to vegetarians: there are no meat chunks but the broth is not vegetarian.) The soup comes with a small side container of Thai basil, cilantro, a slice of lime, bean sprouts, jalapeno slices and a little cup of hoisin with sriracha. My recommendation is to dump it all in and let it sit for a few moments before you dig in. Something magical happens. It warms and heals your body from the inside out.
My lunch companion and I were talking about life trials, personal challenges, and hard things you learn to live with over our pho. It’s okay for your nose to get red and tears well up and fall when you’ve swallowed a slice of jalapeno. Way more okay than crying in public at lunch in a business suit. And so maybe the magic of pho is also metaphysical. Have you sold your soul to the corporation? Been unlucky in love? Watched a dream slip out of reach? Well, have I got a soup for you! You will feel better afterward. I promise.
-Morchella
Morchella’s interest in food is an unintended consequence of her hardworking mother having raised three children on the food of the ‘70s and ‘80s: Banquet Fried Chicken, Tuna Helper, and Creamettes with Ragu. To this day neither Morchella nor her brothers eat spaghetti. Morchella likes to start her day counting breaths in salamba sirsasana and finish it biking home in the dark.