Soup Doula Opens New Shop In Bed-Stuy

BED-STUY, NY — A doula's soup business is growing in Brooklyn, offering nourishing seasonal eats and community gathering spaces.

Postpartum doula Marisa Mendez Marthaller opened a soup pick-up spot in Bed-Stuy last Tuesday at Bed Stuy Barb's on Hancock Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard. While customers were picking up their online orders, they also tasted some of the Soup Doula's menu.

Barb's will serve as Soup Doula's pickup spot — and occasional soup tasting room — every Tuesday from 5-8 p.m.

"Everyone liked it, fortunately," Mendez Marthaller said. "It felt very 'neighborhoody.'"

On Tuesday, Bed-Stuy locals tried homemade recipes like a chicken turmeric sipping broth, chickpea chicken soup and a vegan leek, mushroom and ginger soup — recipes that are quickly stacking up as Soup Doula staples, Mendez Marthaller told Patch.

Mendez Marthaller frequently revamps her menu of soups, broths and stews, but she's hoping to include some staples year round. Beyond the quick crowd favorites, Mendez Marthaller will mix in seasonal flavors — like gazpacho in the summer and heartier flavors in the winter.

"My natural inclination is to constantly change [the menu,] but I'm trying to find a balance," Mendez Marthaller said, emphasizing that her favorite soup changes practically every month.

Throughout the year, she aims for recipes that are "classic, simple, pretty, satisfying [and] nourishing," she said.

As a Crown Heights resident, moving into Bed-Stuy is a welcomed opportunity for Mendez Marthaller to get to know another Brooklyn neighborhood, she said.

She was most recently ladling her nutrient-rich recipes out of a nightclub in Williamsburg.

"Each neighborhood in Brooklyn is such a special place, so it's fun being able to participate," Mendez Marthaller said.

And Soup Doula is also headed to Williamsburg, Fort Greene, Ridgewood and Crown Heights, offering similar one-day-per-week online order pickup out of local shops.

Mendez Marthaller is no stranger to the Brooklyn dining scene — she's worked at NYC staples like the Wythe Hotel, Grammarcy Tavern and Marlow & Sons and Diner — and now collaborates with old colleagues on Soup Doula pop-up shops.

Soup Doula is a perfect marriage of hospitality and postpartum care, Mendez Marthaller said. Like postpartum care, the soup helps nourish people in their time of need.

But Mendez Marthaller's hospitality background is helping her create a space where communities can convene over good food.

Mendez Marthaller first got the idea for Soup Doula during the pandemic, when finding new clients proved difficult. All Mendez Marthaller could really do for clients was cook, and soup was always her go-to given it's so nourishing and hydrating.

In 2021, Mendez Marthaller had an injury that took her off her feet for months — leaving her husband with the bulk of household duties and child care. Like they had when she was first pregnant, Mendez Marthaller's community helped out immensely.

"Our community really came through for us and brought us food, and that food kind of saved us," Mendez Marthaller said.

Understanding the impact firsthand, she began giving soup to people she knew and grew the business online from there.

"A little bit goes a long way," she said.

Eventually, Soup Doula could grow to include shipping and hit shelves at small grocers, but for now, Mendez Marthaller will focus on her community-based pickup model.