New Place for Breakfast and Lunch in Cooper-Young
Stone Soup Cafe Opens
By Lindsey Lowry/MicroMemphis Reporter
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Sept. 12, 2011
Former Buns on the Run chef Sharron Johnson has a lot on her plate once again: She is a partner, chef, and menu designer for Cooper Young’s upcoming restaurant, Stone Soup Café. Stone Soup Cafe will open September 13, at 7:00am. “It will be fashioned after my former place, Buns on the Run,” says Johnson. Stone Soup Café will be open for breakfast and lunch:
The restaurant is located at 993 S. Cooper (at the intersection of Cooper and Felix). |
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Johnson says, “It’s a lot of space, close to 4,000 square feet.” The restaurant is two stories and will use multiple rooms on both floors as seating areas. For the past few months, she has assisted in the building’s preparations by painting and tearing down walls alongside the contractors.
Johnson says the establishment will be “like an eclectic blue plate. The environment will be homey with an edge. I can’t say that we cater to one group. I expect all ages, all demographics. If it’s anything like Buns on the Run, we had people who had just finished their job of cutting trees down sitting next to people in suits. We’re as eclectic as our menu.”
The menu items will feature items ranging from crepes in the morning to sandwiches for lunch. “It will be the same things Buns on the Run had with the crepes and the French toast. We’ll put the homemade bread on the tables again. There will be soups, of course. Our signature soup is called the Stone Soup; it’s tomato based and healthy. There will be salads and sandwiches of all kinds. We’ll have two different main courses for the luncheon. One will be standard and one will change everyday,” says Johnson.
Johnson says, “The least expensive item will be biscuits ranging from a couple of dollars, and $15 should be the highest price [for a meal.]”
To accommodate the many vegetarians living in the Cooper Young community, Johnson says, “Our gluten free bread is vegetation-friendly. So are our salads and I’m also making some cookies that vegetarians can eat. And of course they can eat our mushroom sandwich or vegetables; I never cook the vegetables with meat.”
Buns on the Run closed in 2008. Less than three years after Buns on the Run’s end, Sharon Johnson is opening another restaurant- an impressive feat in the economy’s restraints on the restaurant industry.
She says, “When I closed Buns down it was only because my partner wanted to get out of business. I didn’t want to sell the business and the name for someone else to change what we had worked so hard to get, so we just closed it down and sold everything out, I got so much grief for that and still today anywhere I go someone stops me and says, ‘I miss Buns on the Run!’”
The current reality of Johnson’s new restaurant began with only a name, “Stone Soup Café.”
Johnson, Emily Bishop (the Communications Committee Chair of Cooper Young Community Association), and a few other people have been members of a social gathering for the past few years. “We call ourselves the Stone Soup Social Club. It’s a gathering every Thursday night” where they eat dinner and socialize, says Johnson.
“About a year ago I told Emily that I would love to open a restaurant again and name it ‘Stone Soup Café.’ A year later, Steve (Emily Bishop’s husband) approached me and said they found a building. It all happened so fast,” says Johnson.
The name derives from a folktale. The folktale’s moral promotes the virtues of sharing with the less fortunate in a close-knit community. Johnson says, “The name epitomizes what I do with restaurants- I want other people to be involved.”
The logo, designed by Henry Lewis, a long-time friend of Johnson’s and graphic artist teacher at Christian Brothers University, designed the logo. Johnson says “it’s fashioned after the Welsh Loving Spoon. They were wooden spoons given to newly wed couples. If you look at a heart there’s an ‘S’ facing one direction, and another ‘S’ facing the other direction.”
The heart-shaped and double-s logo is appropriate for the alliterative ‘S’s in the name “Stone Soup Café.”
“To us food is love. We’re going to prepare food with love here. And we’re in the heart of midtown.” The symbolism relating the name, the heart-spoon logo, and the location ties the knot between the restaurant and the Cooper Young Community.
Johnsons says, “It’s great for the community-oriented Cooper Young neighborhood. I want everybody to be apart of this. I want the clientele to bring in spoons and we’re going to make a collage on the wall.”
The restaurant will also feature “a fall market during the day with some local products for sale and I’ll have pastries in there, too,” says Johnson.
Though the building can contain many more people, fire code-enforcement laws allow no more than 50 people to be seated at once. Johnson says seating will spread throughout the house’s “three dining rooms downstairs, two rooms upstairs for overflow, and that large space in the back. The seating upstairs will be used to attract the business lunches for meetings. We’re one of the only places in Cooper Young where there is meeting space” A printer and wireless internet is provided to accommodate the business meetings.”
She says, “There’s also a beautiful area between the house and the ramp in the back yard that is perfect for outdoor seating. There will also be a couple of seats on the front porch balcony. It’s adorable. It’s almost like a Juliet balcony. Later on we’re going to landscape the yard for seating out there. There’s even a big entry hallway which can be used as a small reception.”
She added, “It’s a rarity in Cooper Young and we’re lucky to have our own parking lot right next to the property.”
Johnson says she chose to open the restaurant in the Cooper-Young area because “I’ve lived in the community for 30 years.” She has been active in the community, serving various leadership positions on the Cooper Young Community Association since 1983.
Emily Bishop, part owner, will also work in the restaurant when she’s in town. She and her mother have been friends with Johnson since they met. “We’ve known each other for quite a while now. We’ve been friends since we met. I guess she knew my work ethic and liked what I produced.”
Johnson says, “If everything works out I’d say it will be about a year when we open up for dinner as well.”
The building has endured many dramatic changes over the years. Previously, it served as a real estate office. Johnson says, “This house has been added onto several times. I ran into a couple who are now in their 70s and grew up in Cooper Young. They told me they remember when the house used to be a shotgun house and a dentist office. The house has seen a whole lot of changes. Hopefully this [restaurant] will be a nice change.””
For more information, call Stone Soup at (901) 922-5314.
Relevant Links:
Johnson says the establishment will be “like an eclectic blue plate. The environment will be homey with an edge. I can’t say that we cater to one group. I expect all ages, all demographics. If it’s anything like Buns on the Run, we had people who had just finished their job of cutting trees down sitting next to people in suits. We’re as eclectic as our menu.”
The menu items will feature items ranging from crepes in the morning to sandwiches for lunch. “It will be the same things Buns on the Run had with the crepes and the French toast. We’ll put the homemade bread on the tables again. There will be soups, of course. Our signature soup is called the Stone Soup; it’s tomato based and healthy. There will be salads and sandwiches of all kinds. We’ll have two different main courses for the luncheon. One will be standard and one will change everyday,” says Johnson.
Johnson says, “The least expensive item will be biscuits ranging from a couple of dollars, and $15 should be the highest price [for a meal.]”
To accommodate the many vegetarians living in the Cooper Young community, Johnson says, “Our gluten free bread is vegetation-friendly. So are our salads and I’m also making some cookies that vegetarians can eat. And of course they can eat our mushroom sandwich or vegetables; I never cook the vegetables with meat.”
Buns on the Run closed in 2008. Less than three years after Buns on the Run’s end, Sharon Johnson is opening another restaurant- an impressive feat in the economy’s restraints on the restaurant industry.
She says, “When I closed Buns down it was only because my partner wanted to get out of business. I didn’t want to sell the business and the name for someone else to change what we had worked so hard to get, so we just closed it down and sold everything out, I got so much grief for that and still today anywhere I go someone stops me and says, ‘I miss Buns on the Run!’”
The current reality of Johnson’s new restaurant began with only a name, “Stone Soup Café.”
Johnson, Emily Bishop (the Communications Committee Chair of Cooper Young Community Association), and a few other people have been members of a social gathering for the past few years. “We call ourselves the Stone Soup Social Club. It’s a gathering every Thursday night” where they eat dinner and socialize, says Johnson.
“About a year ago I told Emily that I would love to open a restaurant again and name it ‘Stone Soup Café.’ A year later, Steve (Emily Bishop’s husband) approached me and said they found a building. It all happened so fast,” says Johnson.
The name derives from a folktale. The folktale’s moral promotes the virtues of sharing with the less fortunate in a close-knit community. Johnson says, “The name epitomizes what I do with restaurants- I want other people to be involved.”
The logo, designed by Henry Lewis, a long-time friend of Johnson’s and graphic artist teacher at Christian Brothers University, designed the logo. Johnson says “it’s fashioned after the Welsh Loving Spoon. They were wooden spoons given to newly wed couples. If you look at a heart there’s an ‘S’ facing one direction, and another ‘S’ facing the other direction.”
The heart-shaped and double-s logo is appropriate for the alliterative ‘S’s in the name “Stone Soup Café.”
“To us food is love. We’re going to prepare food with love here. And we’re in the heart of midtown.” The symbolism relating the name, the heart-spoon logo, and the location ties the knot between the restaurant and the Cooper Young Community.
Johnsons says, “It’s great for the community-oriented Cooper Young neighborhood. I want everybody to be apart of this. I want the clientele to bring in spoons and we’re going to make a collage on the wall.”
The restaurant will also feature “a fall market during the day with some local products for sale and I’ll have pastries in there, too,” says Johnson.
Though the building can contain many more people, fire code-enforcement laws allow no more than 50 people to be seated at once. Johnson says seating will spread throughout the house’s “three dining rooms downstairs, two rooms upstairs for overflow, and that large space in the back. The seating upstairs will be used to attract the business lunches for meetings. We’re one of the only places in Cooper Young where there is meeting space” A printer and wireless internet is provided to accommodate the business meetings.”
She says, “There’s also a beautiful area between the house and the ramp in the back yard that is perfect for outdoor seating. There will also be a couple of seats on the front porch balcony. It’s adorable. It’s almost like a Juliet balcony. Later on we’re going to landscape the yard for seating out there. There’s even a big entry hallway which can be used as a small reception.”
She added, “It’s a rarity in Cooper Young and we’re lucky to have our own parking lot right next to the property.”
Johnson says she chose to open the restaurant in the Cooper-Young area because “I’ve lived in the community for 30 years.” She has been active in the community, serving various leadership positions on the Cooper Young Community Association since 1983.
Emily Bishop, part owner, will also work in the restaurant when she’s in town. She and her mother have been friends with Johnson since they met. “We’ve known each other for quite a while now. We’ve been friends since we met. I guess she knew my work ethic and liked what I produced.”
Johnson says, “If everything works out I’d say it will be about a year when we open up for dinner as well.”
The building has endured many dramatic changes over the years. Previously, it served as a real estate office. Johnson says, “This house has been added onto several times. I ran into a couple who are now in their 70s and grew up in Cooper Young. They told me they remember when the house used to be a shotgun house and a dentist office. The house has seen a whole lot of changes. Hopefully this [restaurant] will be a nice change.””
For more information, call Stone Soup at (901) 922-5314.
Relevant Links:
- http://www.stonesoupcafememphis.com/
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stone-Soup-Cafe/152583234811638
- http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/print-edition/2011/06/03/experienced-chef-partner-to-bring.html