Russ Zimmer

@RussZimmer

UNION BEACH - Spoon Full of Hope, a community restaurant sponsored by and in the mold of Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen, has closed, at least temporarily.

Gigi Liaguno-Dorr, the founder and coordinator of Spoon Full, said it was her choice.

For more than three years, Liaguno-Dorr has been wrestling with the powers-that-be in order to restore her waterfront restaurant Jakeabob's Bay, which was ruined by superstorm Sandy.

Juggling the rebuilding process, running Spoon Full every week and a recent personal matter all combined to be too much, she told the Asbury Park Press on Thursday.

Liaguno-Dorr is far from alone: Research has shown that the continuing stress on people caused by Sandy is every bit as real as the unfinished homes and businesses.

"I wanted to reset," she said. "I needed to take some time for myself."

A spokesperson for the Soul Kitchen said there were no plans at this time to continue in Union Beach.

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A partnership between the Gateway Church of Christ of Morganville and Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen and JBJ Soul Foundation, Spoon Full had it's debut in the middle of January 2015.

Much of the food was cooked at the VFW Post in Port Monmouth and brought to the borough's Union Hose Fire Co. No. 1 station, where final preparations were made before the wait staff laid the food out on covered tables in the fire station's front room. All the work was performed by volunteers.

Most every Wednesday from that week on, Spoon Full would prepare three-course meals for seatings at 5, 6 and 7 p.m.

Spoon Full followed the model of the Soul Kitchen in Red Bank: no prices on the menu, somewhat random seating and a payment system that asks the diner for either a minimum donation of $10 per adult ($5 for children under 12) or an hour of volunteer work. That hour of volunteer work also earns the individual a dining certificate at Spoon Full for four family members plus themselves.

A total of 4,391 meals were served with about three out of five going to people in need, according to the JBJ Soul Foundation.

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Liaguno-Dorr said some momentum is building for Jakeabob's and that, perhaps, her rebuilt restaurant could one day be a more permanent home for Spoon Full.

"With the help of the Soul Kitchen and the Soul Foundation, we were able to serve 4,300 meals," she said. "To be able to do that, once a week. There is absolutely a need (still) there and I would like to keep that going in the future."

The Asbury Park Press NJ Superstorm Sandy Recovery Section

Reporter Chris Jordan contributed to this story.