Butternut Squash: Seersucker

What conjures thoughts of leaves crunching underfoot and warm, nubby sweaters more than butternut squash soup? It is the ultimate fall dish, and the southern-style version at Seersucker is our favorite. Chef Robert Newton switches up the toppings: sometimes he serves it with pickled cherries, and sometimes with spiced pecans and popcorn on top, but the base is always super creamy. The butternut squash comes from the nearby Carroll Gardens Greenmarket. (We'd be remiss if, while on the soup track, we didn't mention Seersucker's chicken and dumplings. Chicken, carrots and celery are cooked in a (there's really no other way to describe it than) chicken-y-broth, which then becomes home to a gang of pillowy dumplings. The very welcome update on the classic? A piece of fried chicken skin balanced on top of the whole shebang. It's not on the menu right now, but if you help us plea hard enough, maybe we can bring it back.)

Seersucker, 329 Smith Street, (at Carroll street) Brooklyn; 718-422-0444

Photo: Courtesy of Seersucker