The story
Despite its French name, vichyssoise was created in New York City. Louis Diat, a chef from Montmarault in central France, ran the kitchens of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manhattan from its early days. Around 1917, by his own account, he wanted a new cold soup for summer and remembered how, as a boy, he cooled his mother's hot leek and potato soup with cold milk. He enriched it with cream, strained it again and topped it with chives, naming it crème vichyssoise glacée after Vichy, the spa town near his childhood home. It became an American classic, and a French book in 1923 listed it as an American dish.
Rival claims
Often assumed to be French: it grew out of the French leek-and-potato potage, and Louis Diat named it after Vichy near his hometown, but he created the chilled version at the Ritz-Carlton in New York.
Also known as crème vichyssoise glacée, vichyssoise soup, cold potato leek soup.
On the Meridish menu
Vichyssoise was the soup course on menu No. 10 on October 10, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Silky leek and potato soup, served ice-cold. Despite the fancy name, it was born in a grand hotel in this skyscraper city in the 1910s, when the chef chilled his mum's recipe.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
