Flooded city streets, cold, drizzling rain and down-right miserable conditions Saturday could not dampen the sixth annual Great Bowls of Fire soup fundraising event at the Glebe Community Centre. In fact, the lousy weather made so many warm bowls of hand-crafted goodness all the more inviting as once again the Ottawa Guild of Potters managed a capacity evening where all 350 tickets at $35 a pop were snapped up within two hours of going on sale in early February.

Spectacular, yes, but not terribly surprising as each soup lover got to keep a distinctive handmade decorated bowl donated by generous members of the Potters' Guild, in addition to selecting among a dozen soups supplied by some of the best restaurants and chefs in the nation's capital. Each chef supplied up to 45 litres of soup. In addition, no fewer than five bakeries and stores donated bread to round out the meal.

In all, an estimated $11,000 was raised to benefit the Ottawa Food Bank, making the cumulative effort over six years in the order of $70,000 to assist hungry families.

"It's amazing," says organizer Colette Beardall. "I don't know how to do the event any better."

But organizers are considering ways next year to make tickets more accessible to more soup lovers, as each year some individuals buy as many as 25 tickets -presumably to distribute among friends.

Caterer Thyme & Again sold 87 tickets in 90 minutes, says its owner Sheila Whyte, who has been making soup for Great Bowls since it was first launched in Ottawa. "People were lining up and buying 10, 15 and 20 tickets at a time."

She notes this year Great Bowls of Fire was also more environmentally friendly. Bottled water was replaced with water stations offering ice and compostable paper cups.

The fundraising idea grew from a 1990 project in Michigan in which high school students made ceramic bowls to support a local food drive. The concept quickly evolved into an annual campaign to feed the hungry, and has since grown roots in centres across the continent.

This year, Ottawa guild members donated about 400 handmade bowls, each decorated with exquisite care and attention to detail.

About 30 of 170 guild members donated bowls, some as many as 25 pieces.

Try as I did, I couldn't sample every soup offered Saturday night. But each was incredibly delicious, as you'd expect from such talented chefs.

I particularly enjoyed chef John Taylor's (Domus Cafe, and Taylor's Genuine Food & Wine) rich lobster bisque with smoked sablefish and vanilla creme fraîche. At Restaurant E18hteen's booth, chef Matt Carmichael served Tom Kha Gai soup, the quintessential Thai coconutchicken comfort food with prawns, mushrooms, a delicate spicy note thanks to chili pepper, tang from the lime, richness of coconut milk and a whiff of coriander.

Town gastropub, a newcomer on Elgin Street, was there for the first time with incredibly tender chicken meatballs by chef Steve Wall with parmesan brodo (broth), heirloom beans and kale. A complete list of the delicious offerings appears below.

- Absinthe Café and Resto Bar, mushroom veloté, tarragon crème fraîche, white truffle oil;

- Allium, celeric and apple soup with crispy bacon, fried mushrooms and parmesan cheese;

- Canvas Resto Bar, winter squash, pear and sage soup;

- Domus Café, lobster bisque with smoked sablefish and vanilla crème fraîche;

- Il Piccolino, cream of tomato with crispy pancetta and basil garlic croutons;

- Il Primo, curry sweet potato and apple topped with coconut lime cream and cilantro;

- Restaurant E18hteen, Tom Kha Gai soup (the quintessential Thai chicken-coconut soup, this time with prawns, mushroom, chili, lime leaf and coconut milk);

- Town restaurant (new this year), chicken meatballs in parmesan brodo (broth) with heirloom beans and kale;

- The Wellington Gastropub, potato, bacon and Beau's soup with truffle oil;

- The Whalesbone Oyster House, fish chowder with dill and fennel;

- Thyme & Again Creative Catering, carrot with maple, ginger and artisinal croutons;

- Zuni Grill, tandoori seafood chowder.

- In addition, assorted bread was supplied by ACE Bakery College Square, Rideau Bakery, Trillium Bakery, Farm Boy (Kanata), and Joy of Gluten-Free.