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August 07. 2015 12:01AM Spoons stirs up a Central Point location Spoons' twice-baked potato soup is topped with cheese, bacon crumbles and green onion. Photo courtesy of Sarah Lemon Odes to Merrie Gaye’s beautiful soup have filled this column several times since 2012, when Spoons stirred up the daytime dining scene in downtown Medford. The soup, itself, hasn’t changed. But Gaye serves a lot of more it since opening a second Spoons in Central Point. The April expansion allowed Gaye to branch out for breakfast service at the Medford location and also put her within reach of a new cadre of customers. Housed in a former wholesale bakery behind Fair City Market, Spoons on North Third Street better suits my daily routine. To my surprise, Gaye’s routine is on full display in her new digs, quite likely the region’s most unpretentious demonstration kitchen. Fun, funky, turquoise-painted appliances and cabinets draw the eye away from Gaye’s bins of potatoes and stacks of canned goods. Stainless-steel tables delineate the workspace and even suffice for front counters. A pegboard reminiscent of Julia Child’s iconic home kitchen frames Gaye’s gallery of cooking implements. The ambiance initially may confound patrons unschooled in commercial food service. But ordering one of Spoons’ fast, fresh and flavorful meals quickly feels as familiar as watching Mom pack a sack lunch that the other kids will covet. From the day’s four soups, I selected vegan creamy broccoli, twice-baked potato and chilled “sassy” watermelon, which wowed crowds at the 2014 Smudge Pot Stroll. Each was attractively garnished with grated cheese, bacon crumbles and fresh cilantro, respectively. I skipped French onion, preferring to make that classic at home with a thick layer of broiled cheese. Gaye’s rotating cast of 30-plus soups riff on her family recipes or represent adaptations from popular cookbooks. Five-mushroom, split pea with ham and several chicken variations are some of the best-sellers. Customer input also spurred Gaye to perfect meat- and dairy-free soups, including creamy carrot, parsnip and spinach. Each batch of soup is made from scratch, starting with Gaye’s own stock, simmered over several days from bones and vegetable trimmings. Gaye says she buys locally grown produce in season and even supplements from her own organic garden. “Daily greens” (actually hearty, main-dish salads) and 1-pound baked potatoes, similarly loaded with an array of toppings, round out the menu. Gaye posts the day’s lineup to Facebook, although breakfast items at Spoons’ Medford location aren’t broadcast online. Nevertheless, savory puff pastries and breakfast burritos have been well-received, said Gaye. The $5 price tag for each 10-ounce cup of soup also awards fresh-baked bread and a smidgen of whatever side dish that Gaye can devise. Fruit and pasta salads were on offer, along with cheese-and-garlic quick bread. Heartier appetites can spend an extra dollar for 12 ounces of soup or an extra $3 for an entire pint. Fresh-baked snickerdoodles and “triple-chocolate-chip” cookies couldn’t be passed up. I also tacked on a glass of Gaye’s “slightly sweetened” iced tea, blueberry on that particular day. Lacking indoor seating, Gaye erected an awning around the picnic tables in her small parking lot. But Spoons’ soups are so hot that even 30 minutes in transit won’t reduce their quality. Enjoying mine in the comfort of my own kitchen, I only wished I could have pulled a stool alongside Gaye’s stove while she stirred another pot of soup. Spoons is open from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at 1254 N. Third St., Central Point. The original location in the Woolworth Building lobby, 33 N. Central Ave., Medford, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays (except federal holidays or until the soup is gone). —  Sarah Lemon http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150807/ENTERTAINMENT/150809804 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->