EDWARDSVILLE - St. Louis favorite Spoonful Desserts has opened a second location in Edwardsville.
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Located in the same building as Poke Munch at 1063 IL-157 in Edwardsville, the Korean dessert café specializes in bingsu, bubble tea, coffee and taiyaki. Owner Monica Lee explained that the café aims to please everyone and give back to the community.
“Spoonful is a Korean dessert café that welcomes anyone and everyone,” she said. “Our values are customer service, cleanliness and quality, and a big thing we strive to do is make the environment welcoming so that we take the intimidation factor out. The number of times you’ve walked into an Asian restaurant or even just a foreign food restaurant and you had no idea what to order and you kind of just made a fool of yourself because you just didn’t know, we tried to take out that intimidation factor and just kind of ‘translate’ what these desserts are.”
Lee explained that bingsu is “like a Korean shaved snow cream.” Its milk base makes it richer than a snow cone but lighter than ice cream, and the dessert is topped with flavors like strawberries, tiramisu, Fruity Pebbles or other favorites. Taiyaki is “like a stuffed mochi waffle” that Lee said is especially popular during the cold winter months.
During Lee’s travels throughout Asia and Europe, she would often stop in big cities to find a Korean café where she could eat bingsu. She was surprised to realize there was nowhere in St. Louis where she could find her favorite treat, which prompted her to open her own café in Creve Coeur in 2022.
Lee wasn’t expecting to expand so soon, but when the owners of Poke Munch approached her about opening a second location in Edwardsville, she couldn’t say no. She said there is “great synergy” between Poke Munch and Spoonful Desserts, and she has been surprised to discover that many of her regular St. Louis customers are actually Metro East natives who are thrilled to have a second location so close to home.
“It blew my mind that people would drive so far for what I’m selling, and it was so humbling, and I felt so grateful,” Lee said. “I’d always loved the idea of another location in the Edwardsville area. I just never envisioned the Edwardsville location, let alone a second location, that soon, but it was just such a good opportunity with great people from Poke Munch to work with. So I took it, and so far, despite the cold snap, the people of Edwardsville have been so welcoming and so amazing.”
As Spoonful Desserts settles into their new location, Lee added that they hope to soon resume hosting Cupsleeves events, which invite vendors and attendees to celebrate the kpop community. You can find out more about these events at the official Spoonful Desserts Facebook page and Instagram profile. This collaboration with community members is important to Lee.
“I was born and raised in St. Louis. I’m a Midwest girl through and through,” she said. “It’s just really important to invest where I am because my local community has invested in me. I should do the same. I really believe in that…It’s always something I’ve held really closely and I think it is really important just on a personal level and professional level as well. But also, just giving people a space to be themselves and to feel welcome. That’s what matters to me, too.”
For more information about Spoonful Desserts, visit their official website at SpoonfulDesserts.com.
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