Inspired by Seinfeld, Soup Nutsy takes off
To understand this story, follow the trail of soup. First 10 yrs came the International Soup Kitchen in midtown Manhattan, a modest business serving delicious cups of mulligatawny at reasonable prices and run by a chef with a notoriously gruff manner. Then, last November, came a famous episode of the popular TV show Seinfeld that depicited a business based on the International Soup Kitchen and featuring a chef so mean ( George asked for bread and got thrown out of the restaurant } the show's characters called him the " Soup Nazi"." Now comesa bizarre synthesis of reality and television : Soup Nutsy, a soup kitchen modeled after the one in the Senifeld episode and visted by hordes of star - struck Americans who are unaware it is not the original International Soup Kitchen, still open a few blocks away. This would all a minor incident in the inscrutable culinary life of New York City if the owners of Soup Nutsy didn't plan to capitalize on the notoriety of the Seinfeld episode by expanding the business nationwide. Their plan is to open a chain of 500 Soup Nutsys over the next few years in places like Chicago, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Seattle. Says Chris Kapoor, one of the owners: " We want to be the next Starbucks. "