At Spoonful – St. Louis’ first Korean dessert café – Monica Lee painstakingly develops the textures and flavors in her delicate Asian-inspired desserts till they’re excellent. Her exhausting work pays off within the type of ethereally fluffy, snow-like bingsu; chewy, golden brown taiyaki with a uniquely crisp exterior; and a bevy of colourful bubble tea and lattes.
Lee initially developed a love for bingsu whereas touring overseas, the place she continually sought out the frozen deal with. She beforehand labored in public relations as an govt for a global firm based mostly in Beijing, however the pandemic introduced her residence, the place she lent a hand managing her cousin’s enterprise, Joo Joo Restaurant & Karaoke. Whereas resettling stateside, she started to overlook her go-to refreshment and resolved to make it herself as a particular on the restaurant, to the delight of patrons.
It wasn’t lengthy earlier than Lee got down to develop upon the scrumptious thought and import particular instruments from abroad to hold out a imaginative and prescient for her personal café simply doorways down from Joo Joo. Her tackle bingsu options sweetened milk-based shaved ice layered with fastidiously balanced combos of sauces, toppings and condensed milk. Featured flavors embody strawberry, matcha, tiramisu, Biscoff caramel and injeolmi (mochi tossed in roasted soybean powder).
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Housemade taiyaki – Japanese-style fish-shaped truffles which might be a preferred conventional Korean avenue meals – come recent from the griddle, full of Nutella, candy pink bean or cinnamon apple, whereas a rising beverage menu consists of the whole lot from dalgona (Korean whipped espresso) with boba to lavender lattes made with Blueprint Espresso.
With Spoonful, Lee invitations company to relax out and dig proper in to her favorites; she continually updates the menu with thrilling new variations. In Korea, she explains, the café tradition invitations company to drop in day or evening to hang around and revel in treats and dialog in an off-the-cuff, relaxed surroundings. Lee’s dedication to fostering that kind of fun-filled environment anchored by very good desserts is unparalleled within the space, and St. Louis is all of the sweeter for it.
Spoonful, 12943 Olive Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 314-485-1757, spoonfuldesserts.com
