The Wooden Spoon has been a longstanding staple in Bossier and you may not know, but inside this classic business, is a new owner. Although they may be operating under new ownership, the new owners aren’t new to the baking business. In fact, they are the perfect fit for the job. 

Chef Angelyn Blake and her husband, Duane, are proudly serving the people of Bossier in one of the city’s tried and true locations – The Wooden Spoon. They are now operating as The Wooden Spoon “Home of the Bagel Boss Lady” bringing together great cookies, sandwiches and wraps, and most importantly – their bagels and freshmade cream cheese. 

After leaving her corporate chef job, Chef Angelyn wanted to try something different and learned the craft of bagel making at Creole Bagelry in Slidell, Louisiana. They moved to North Louisiana, where they realized there were no bagel shops within a 120-mile radius. Inspired by the opportunity, she created a bagel special. The special sold out, and an internet review on the 318 Eats Facebook page called her “The Bagel Boss of Shreveport.” Chef Angelyn laughed and said, “I’ll take bagel boss lady.” 

From there, they began making and selling bagels through various locations in the Shreveport-Bossier area. From the Farmers Market to the Benton Boutique, you’ll find Bagel Boss Lady bagels and homemade cream cheeses. For each item, they aim for quality and collaboration with local businesses like McKinney Hill Market’s pepper jelly used in one of their cream cheeses to the honey used in most bagel recipes from Always Miss Bee Haven. 

They’ve been the owners and operators of The Wooden Spoon since August 1, 2024 after a fast exchange of ownership. 

 “It went really quickly,” Blake said. “From the moment of mentioning it at 11 a.m. to discussing whether we’re going to meet at 2 to shaking hands at 5 p.m.” 

Since then, they’ve faced the growth and challenges of tackling owning a brick-and-mortar space. With the help of who Duane calls their “core crew” members, including himself, Chef Angelyn, and his mother, they are able to tackle any challenge that comes their way. 

“The hardest thing is having two companies come into one brick and mortar,” Blake said. “A lot of people knew who Bagel Boss Lady is and a lot of people knew The Wooden Spoon as well. It’s trying to get all of the people to know that The Wooden Spoon has reopened and that The Bagel Boss Lady is the owner/operator or that. So, not only has The Wooden Spoons’ traditions been restored and revived but the quality and greatness of the Bagel Boss Lady is there.”

When they took over The Wooden Spoon, they were asked to keep the familiar recipes for their award-winning cookies. They’ve tweaked small things but not much. Even the most minute changes, including the temperature of their ovens, can make or break the texture of their cookies. They want to ensure the quality everyone recognizes from both companies has maintained as they’ve taken over. 

For some of their items, they combine Bagel Boss Lady and the traditional flavors of The Wooden Spoon. Blake’s favorite item is the sandwiches of the month. It’s their crossover where each sandwich of the month is featured with one of Chef Angelyn’s bagels.

Their first feature was a chicken bacon ranch sandwich served on their best-selling jalapeno cheddar bagel. More recently their sandwich of the month was a play on Thanksgiving leftovers. They took carved turkey, swiss cheese, sliced tomatoes, onions, bacon, mayo, and cranberry jam and served it on a cranberry satsuma french toast bagel. Blake describes it as the most elevated McGriddle someone could have.

The detail and work that goes into every item is impeccable. Even when orders are coming in left and right, they ensure each product is up to their standard. 

“It’s procedures and processes. You have to come up with a plan,” Blake explained. “We just have determination that we are not going to fail. We are going to knock it out of the park.”

Their procedures and processes may include early Sunday mornings to bake hundreds of cookies to be sure they are keeping up with the demand for basket orders and deliveries. All of the hard work is worth seeing the outcome. 

“Seeing the face of someone light up when I deliver the basket,” Blake said. “I sometimes take basket deliveries personally. You’ll have little kids who are sick and you walk in and they look miserable and then that light shows up.”

They have shown up for others and the people of Bossier have shown up for them with their support in both Bagel Boss Lady and the Wooden Spoon.

“It’s a rollercoaster we won’t get off of,” Blake said. “We’re enjoying the ups and downs. They are not as scary on the downs now, we know it’s just getting ready to go back up again.”

You can visit their brick-and-mortar location at 4350 Viking Drive or follow the Bagel Boss Lady on Facebook to keep up with their distribution locations or pop-up events.