Tag: Roots Natural Kitchen

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Slower but steady: Cornering the summer market

During the summer, Corner businesses adapt to a smaller population with fewer customers. Photo courtesy of Skyclad Aerial.

By Caroline Eastham

During the summer, the UVA student population dwindles from near 25,000 to around 4,000. Despite this significant decrease, it’s business as usual for many Corner restaurants and stores, which have learned over the years to use this time as an opportunity to cater to different crowds and to improve overall customer experience.

Cal Mincer, vice president at Mincer’s, says staying afloat is not a concern for the sportswear store, especially with recent national championships for UVA men’s basketball and lacrosse. “This summer we are definitely summer-proof,” he says. “With two championships back to back…business is as good as it’s ever been.”

Summer events like sports camps and reunions also contribute to expected annual business surges, he says. “We definitely have slow periods in most summers without the students, but we also have some of our busiest weekends in the summer.”

At Corner Juice, the summer offers a time to reset and consider aspects that may get overlooked during the hectic school year, says Willem van Dijk, director of operations. “The nice thing about the summer is that there’s time to rethink your menu and rethink the experience. You get to really have a conversation with people and make sure that they are getting the best experience possible.”

Corner Juice tweaks its hours during the warm months. “It works better to have concentrated hours in which you want your customers to come for those breakfast and lunch times,” says van Dijk. During the school year, he says the restaurant can have a line out the door for hours at a time. “You don’t get that when there’s 20,000 people missing, but we cope.” The juicery is using the summer to open a second location on the Downtown Mall.

Other Corner establishments offer deals or special menu items to sustain customer traffic. Brittany Knouse, Trinity Irish Pub general manager, says the bar has specials to boost business. “We want to offer something to people who work at the hospital and around the Corner and keep them coming back,” she says.

Similarly, at Roots Natural Kitchen, assistant crew leader Lisa Oktayuren says the UVA hospital and Charlottesville families serve as some of its biggest customer groups during the summer. “The knowledge of students being gone brings out all the other people,” she says. “People like to have a cleared Corner versus a crowded Corner. Summer isn’t an obstacle, it’s just a different perspective.”

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Living

For the health of it: Smoothies (and yoga) join the menu on the Corner

Corner Juice's menu isn't completely organic, which "gives us the opportunity to make [our offerings] a little more accessible to a wider variety of people," says co-founder Julie Nolet.

By Max Patten

The Corner on West Main Street has long been the go-to spot for burger bars like Boylan Heights, convenience store eats à la Sheetz, and late-night carbo-loading fixtures such as Insomnia Cookies. Yet times are changing, and smoothies and organic juices have recently joined the mix, as the demand for food that is both healthier and more environmentally conscious increases.

The Juice Laundry was founded in 2013 by UVA law grad Mike Keenan. Inside, natural materials and a clean, open environment makes for an interior that contrasts starkly with that of adjacent businesses. The menu—which includes cold-pressed juices, nut milks, and even vegan mac and cheese—is also very much on trend.

“We have more than just juice and smoothies,” says Julie Nolet, the co-founder of Corner Juice, a Juice Laundry competitor that offers not just food but also yoga classes. She started the business with the help of Joseph Linzon, co-owner of Roots Natural Kitchen, another healthy eating option on the Corner. Corner Juice partnered with Elements, a Charlottesville yoga studio, to round out its wellness appeal. “The best thing to pair with healthy food is healthy living,” Nolet says.

And vegan students are not the only ones buying smoothies. “We also see a fairly large number of persons who are either patients or visiting patients at the hospital,” says Cliffe Keenan, who works at The Juice Laundry and also happens to be the founder’s father. Keenan says he frequently explains the shop’s origins to curious customers. “They appreciate what the backstory is,” he says. “Some people assume this must be a chain. No, it’s not a chain.”

Corner Juice also finds itself at a nexus of local and student activity. “We get people that are visiting Charlottesville because of the Rotunda and UVA,” Nolet says. “We’re actually opening up a second location downtown so hopefully we’ll then get more of a different kind of client base.”

Beyond sharing vegan appeal through their food, both The Juice Laundry and Corner Juice & Yoga advocate sustainability. The Juice Laundry has no trash cans, prompting customers to divide their waste among three bins, and Corner Juice & Yoga has chutes for discarding materials that are recyclable or suitable for composting.

Cliff Keenan says his son “wants to make sure that we leave as gentle of a footprint as possible,” in contrast to the Corner’s older establishments, which still use styrofoam containers and plastic straws. Both Corner Juice and The Juice Laundry also encourage reusable bottles.

The two businesses occupy slightly different niches. The Juice Laundry justifies its higher prices, in part, with an in-store graphic showing the chain of ingredients that goes into its food. “We’re also 100 percent organic,” says Keenan. By contrast, Corner Juice’s menu is not completely organic. “That gives us the opportunity to make these healthy foods a little more accessible to a wider variety of people,” says Nolet.

Both businesses’ success suggests the wellness and sustainability model is more than a trend. “I think we’re on the edge of a way that many more people, especially young people, are starting to look at how they consume things,” Keenan says.

Corner Juice’s menu isn’t completely organic, which “gives us the opportunity to make [our offerings] a little more accessible to a wider variety of people,” says co-founder Julie Nolet.

Max Patten is a staff writer at The Cavalier Daily.

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Cross-pollination: C’ville to RVA and back

Charlottesville-born Champion Brewing opened a Richmond location in 2017. Photo: Ash Daniel

Is love in the air? It appears so–at least between the cities of Richmond and Charlottesville, as witnessed by the number of businesses that have decided to open locations in both cities. Charlottesville, with its beautiful setting and college town vibe, has long made lists of best places to live and work. And in the past few years, Richmond has experienced a renaissance of sorts, with praise seemingly pouring in weekly for its long-underrated, still burgeoning arts, dining, and entrepreneurial scene. So it’s not surprising that a mutual admiration society has developed between the two cities.

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and Sugar Shack donuts, both born in the River City, added Charlottesville locations on West Main Street–Hardywood in February 2017 and Sugar Shack in June 2018 (bringing with it sister business Luther Burger not long after).

Also coming to Charlottesville in early 2020: Quirk Hotel, which first debuted in Richmond in 2015. Why are they interested in C’ville? “First and foremost, the numbers indicate that Charlottesville is a stronger hospitality market than Richmond,” says Quirk Hotel co-owner Ted Ukrop. “Second, UVA is a major and sustainable economic and cultural engine. Having said that, there are also plenty of innovative companies, organizations, and people that align with Quirk’s brand.” The proximity to Hooville–just an hour away–also made a second Quirk location appealing, Ukrop adds.

Meanwhile, Richmond has already experienced an influx of Charlottesville-based businesses, like Roots Natural Kitchen (opened July 2018 in the VCU area), Three Notch’d Brewing Company (opened in 2016 in Scott’s Addition as the RVA Collab House), and Citizen Burger Bar (also opened in 2016, in Carytown). The city’s developing reputation as a supportive, destination craft beer scene was a big draw for Hunter Smith, who founded Champion Brewing in Charlottesville and opened a Richmond location in January 2017 on Grace Street downtown.

“The two cities and their respective governments operate quite differently, which was informative from a business perspective, and has helped me to evaluate additional locations,” says Smith. “I appreciate [chef] Jason Alley from Pasture and Comfort for introducing me to the beautiful former bank space we’re now lucky enough to occupy.”

Up next? Starr Hill Brewery, which is opening Starr Hill Beer Hall & Rooftop in Richmond’s Scott’s Addition this summer. Also coming soon: Common House, the “contemporary social club” that opened in C’ville in 2017, will make the RVA’s Arts District its home sometime in 2019. You’ll be able to find the newest Common House at 305 W. Broad St., just steps away from the original Quirk Hotel.

“Richmond feels like it’s in the midst of a cultural revolution that we are anxious to participate in,” says Common House co-founder Derek Sieg. “The food is world-class, the art scene is electric, and the energy in the entrepreneur community rivals that of any city its size.” While Sieg says his team has been looking at other creative markets in the Southeast in anticipation of growth, the proximity to Charlottesville helped clinch the second location.

“We have a lot of Richmond-based members who use Common House as a landing spot when they’re in Charlottesville, and vice versa, so we see this cross-pollination firsthand and look forward to being a fruit of that pollination ourselves,” he says.

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Living

Bowled over: Charlottesville eateries go all-in on the bowl trend

Most bowls, like this one from Roots Natural Kitchen, start off with a base of rice or greens, followed by protein, a sauce, veggies, and other toppings. Photo by Stephen Barling

By Sashank Sankar

eatdrink@c-ville.com

How much food can you throw into a bowl? For many restaurants nowadays, it isn’t a matter of how much you can, but how much you can’t.

Food bowls have become popular in recent years, with many different places trying their hands at the trend. For most, bowl configuration is the same: Start off with a base, add some protein, mix in sauces, and add toppings.

It’s a simple (and somewhat vague) process, but the approach varies wildly from eatery to eatery, depending on the cuisine. Most start with a rice base, although some restaurants offer a variety of greens as well. Proteins usually come in the form of meat, tofu, or beans, and then there are veggies, all at the eater’s discretion.

The sauces/dressings and toppings are where the bowls’ individual flavor identities emerge.

You might be thinking, “If it’s just throwing things into a bowl and mixing them up, I can do it at home, right?” Well, yes and no. It takes time, creativity, and effort to experiment with getting a bowl’s flavor and texture combinations just right, and a variety of restaurants in and around Charlottesville have perfected it, each in a slightly different way.

Poke Sushi Bowl

Barracks Road Shopping Center and 101 14th St. NW

If you’re looking for a sushi fix, Poke Sushi’s Hawaiian-inspired bowls come with your choice of base (rice or mixed greens), protein (a variety of fish, plus chicken and tofu), sauces, and toppings from avocado to sesame seeds.

Roots Natural Kitchen

1329 W. Main St.

A popular spot for UVA students, Roots combines different ingredients to create new flavor experiences. Here, you can go with a base of grains (bulgur, rice) and/or mixed greens, with protein varying from marinated chicken to barbecue tofu. Come early though, because there’s always a line out the door and down the block. Nowhere near the Corner? Citizen Bowl Shop at 223 W. Main St. on the Downtown Mall has similar offerings at lunchtime.

Cava

1200 Emmet St. N

Cava, a chain that recently opened at the intersection of Barracks Road and Emmet Street, does bowls with a Mediterranean twist. The base here consists of rice and mixed greens or, if you so desire, pita bread. Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, in The Shops at Stonefield, has a comparable vibe and menu.

The Juice Laundry

722 Preston Ave and 1411 University Ave.

The Juice Laundry’s vegan options are a bit of a departure from the rice, protein, and greens bowls that have taken over lunch menus. Instead, you can get açai smoothie bowls, with your choice of fruit or vegetable smoothie as a base, and a variety of toppings (sliced banana, oatmeal, seeds) to go along with it. It’s a sweet yet healthy alternative. The Juice Place offers options for folks visiting the Downtown Mall, and Corner Juice, located at 1509 University Ave., satisfies students’ cravings.

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Living

Chef Tyler Teass leaves Brasserie Saison

Chef Tyler Teass is leaving Brasserie Saison to spend more time with his family.

By Erin O’Hare and Sam Padgett

Eater’s digest

Chef Tyler Teass is leaving his post as head chef at Brasserie Saison in order to spend more time with his wife and young son. “We are parting with him as friends, and wish him all the best,” says the Downtown Mall restaurant’s general manager, Will Curley, adding that “we are incredibly lucky to be able to have his replacements already on staff, having Devin Murray and Mike Perry take over for [Teass] as our chefs.”

Before working in the Brasserie Saison kitchen, Murray was chef at The Whiskey Jar. “He has a great mind for updating classic Belgian fare with modern touches,” Curley says. And Perry “has worked for seemingly every great chef in town,” he says, including Tucker Yoder at Timbercreek Market’s Back 40, Angelo Vangelopolous at the Ivy Inn, Ben Thompson at the now-shuttered Rock Barn and John Haywood at the also-shuttered OXO; Perry also served as head of Harvest Moon Catering for some time.

MidiCi, The Neapolitan Pizza Company, a small, California-based chain, will open its Charlottesville franchise this month, with preview tastings on November 11 and 12. Like the restaurant’s Facebook or Instagram pages (@MidiCiCville) to earn a free margherita pizza this weekend, baked in one of two 7,000-pound wood-fire ovens imported from Italy.

As C-VILLE’s At The Table columnist C. Simon Davidson noted last month on his The Charlottesville 29 blog, Andrew Silver, who co-founded Zocalo with Ivan Rekosh and Peter Castiglione in 2002, is moving on to a job with Roots Natural Kitchen (which he and Rekosh helped launch in 2015). Davidson notes that for now, Silver’s focus will be on Roots’ new catering space in the former St. Maarten Cafe on Elliewood Avenue, a sort of blueprint for future Roots locations. Don’t worry, though, Zocalo and Rekosh aren’t going anywhere.

Cactus restaurant gets new space

Dónde está México? It isn’t south of the Rio Grande as you would assume. It also isn’t on Carlton Avenue in Woolen Mills, underneath the Aquí es México restaurant sign—at least not anymore. Aquí es México, known for its authentic Mexican and Central American flavor, is now Cactus restaurant. New owner Castulo Gaipan (who owns the small Cactus restaurant in the Sonoco gas station on Fifth Street) plans on crafting a different, but still authentic, menu soon. Additionally, Cactus will feature a bakery run by the previous owner of Aquí Es México, which will provide a large variety of Mexican breads that will be sold both in bulk and by the slice.

Recipe swap

Melissa Palombi’s new UVA-themed cookbook asks the provocative question that’s surely on everyone’s mind: Who’s in the kitchen? While the answer is usually assumed to be Dinah and an unspecified stranger, this new cookbook sheds light on the age-old mystery. In this case, the “Hoo” in the kitchen is an impressive collection of UVA folks from all over the country.

Featuring such personal recipes as local caterer Frank Smith’s famous butternut squash soup and jambalaya, as well as UVA’s vice provost for the arts and Virginia Film Festival executive director Jody Kielbasa’s pierogies with blueberry sauce, Hoos in the Kitchen proves to be an eclectic mix of dishes inspired by those who’ve worn orange and blue—personally and professionally. As is obligatory with anything UVA-related, there’s a Thomas Jefferson recipe…for hot chocolate. Palombi says she didn’t want to make just any old cookbook, but rather “a profile of faces and stories [that] people might not know from the UVA extended community.” The book is out this week, for those looking to have a more cavalier attitude about cooking.

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Living

Littlejohn’s opens a Pro Re Nata outpost

Littlejohn’s New York Delicatessen outpost at Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery serves sandwich staples, such as the Chris Long sub, along with smaller snacks, burgers and fries. Rammelkamp Foto

Fans of Littlejohn’s New York Delicatessen can now enjoy a Chris Long sub, Bum Steer and Five Easy Pieces at Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery on Rockfish Gap Turnpike in Crozet. The restaurant operates out of a Pro Re Nata-owned food truck on the brewery property, providing food to patrons and offering both pick-up and delivery services to the Crozet community. Littlejohn’s Restaurants Inc. president Colleen Morrissey says customers can choose from a menu that includes the most popular sandwiches and subs from Littlejohn’s location on the UVA Corner, plus smaller snacks, burgers and fries.

Littlejohn’s at ProReNata also offers weekend specials such as sandwiches made with, or made to pair with, one of the brewery’s beers. “Our team is having fun being creative and reacting to the customers’ requests,” Morrissey says. “We’re changing the menu periodically to reflect the requests we receive.”

Chopt, chopt

First, the Corner got Roots Natural Kitchen. Then The Salad Maker opened downtown. Now, Chopt is set to move into the former Ruby Tuesday space at Barracks Road Shopping Center in the second half of 2017.

The chain, which has multiple locations in New York, North Carolina and in the Washington, D.C., area, says on its website that its fresh salads “push the boundaries of what a salad can be, looking ahead to a future where vegetable eating—and better fast food—is the norm.”

According to a Chopt representative, the restaurant will be company owned and operated.

“At Chopt, we believe that we are part of a movement to change the way America eats, and have always looked to forward-thinking students and communities as our partners,” the representative says, citing Charlottesville’s reputation as an “open-minded, health-oriented” community of foodies as a reason for the chain opening a spot here.

Cheese, please

We’ve got plenty of burger joints here in town, but Phil’s Steaks, currently building out the former Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins spot at 1509 University Ave. on the Corner, is hoping to steer Charlottesville toward a different beef-consumption method: the Philly cheesesteak.

Phil’s head chef and co-owner Kevin McConnell and two of his friends started Phil’s, a New York City-based food truck, five years ago. Though the truck has a modest menu, offering only authentic cheesesteaks, made with tender sirloin steak, mushrooms and onions, served on bread from Philadelphia’s Amoroso’s Baking Company and smothered in either Cheez Whiz, white American or provolone cheese, and twice-fried fries, it made a name for itself.

McConnell says this first brick-and-mortar Phil’s Steaks location, set to open in mid-March, will be a lunch and late-night spot that caters to the college crowd, serving the truck’s staples plus a few new options like chicken steaks, veggie steaks and onion rings.

Cold spell

Splendora’s is again offering all-you-can-eat gelato Wednesdays during January and February. Fork over $10 and you’ll get scoop after scoop, so long as you follow these rules:

1. No cup sharing.

2. You must stay in Splendora’s—no leaving and coming back.

3. You will get a new cup for every scoop, but keep your spoon.

4. Please don’t have food delivered to Splendora’s

5. Don’t eat so much you die or vomit.