So, what’s the worst fate an editor of a magazine that’s sorta known for its coverage of the food scene can endure?
Well, there’s dying.
OK, what’s the second worst fate an editor of a magazine that’s sorta known for its coverage of the food scene can endure?
Being placed on a soft-foods diet. A no-alcohol diet. For… drumroll please… 12 weeks.
This past weekend, I broke a tooth on the left side of my mouth. I went for an emergency visit to the dentist, was told the area was too swollen to work on, and was sent home with a prescription for painkillers and antibiotics.
A few hours later, I was in an emergency room at WestView Health Centre with a couple of IVs sticking into me, as I dealt with the infection that had spread from the broken tooth. I got the root of my evil pulled from my gums at Kingsway Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery on Tuesday. It was my first time under heavy sedation, and it was kind of awesome. You’re brought to the operating room, you lay down, you blink and, when you open your eyes, you’re in the recovery room where someone offers you a ginger ale. I wish we could get sedated like that for long-haul flights. You show up at the airport, clear customs, blink, and hey, I’m in Palm Springs!
Now I embark on 12 weeks of food that isn’t crunchy, doesn’t have small seeds or any other nasty bits that can get stuck in the gums.
On the first day of my soft-food diet, Edmonton gave to me: A soup and risotto from Bianco.
Now, minestrone soup is a staple of Italian cuisine: But a lot of us know it from watery stuff from grocery-store cans. The soup on offer from Bianco is thick, with lots of vegetables and pasta, It almost feels like you could call it a stew. The tomato flavour is rich, and it doesn’t have (nor does it require) a lot of salt to prop up the ingredients.
Then comes the risotto. I get the Risotto al Funghi Trifolat, because I love mushroom anything. What’s one of my guiltiest pleasures? Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup — so my bar isn’t high.
What comes is a mix of cheese, mushrooms and rice that has an earthy flavour that’s as deep as Barry White’s voice. It’s almost got a charcoal feel and that’s a good thing. It’s rich, too… even a small order is filling. And, most important, the rice is perfectly done; it’s not mush, and there are no undercooked bits, which would have defeated the whole part of the soft-food diet.
So, maybe I can do this soft-food thing. But, a glass of wine would have been nice.
Bianco
Downtown | #120, 10020 101A Ave NW, Edmonton | 780.761.8838 | biancoeats.com
