Owners Nira Minniefield (left) and Eshe Armah stand in front of their soon-to-be-opened Natural Life Café on South Arlington Street.
MARIA ZILBERMAN
Daily Record Business Writer
June 8, 2009 7:59 PM
The café was scheduled to open last week, but the owners postponed the debut so they could finish acquiring the necessary building permits, a process that might have gone faster had they chosen to take out loans, Armah said. They hope to be open within a month, she said.
However, the self-described “eco-entrepreneur moms” have opted to follow what they call their “lunch money plan,” squeezing any spare money they have into the project and calling on friends and family when they need help with manual labor, such as laying tile and grout work.
So far, they have invested $10,000 into the project, a number that could double before the restaurant is fully operating, Armah said.
“We’re totally doing this grassroots. We have events and cater
events when we have higher expenses,” she said.
Minniefield also continues to work full-time as a computer engineer with Allegis Group in Hanover.
The restaurant is an outgrowth of Lunch by Nature Inc., a catering service started seven years ago by Minniefield when she became disturbed by the amount of fried food pumped at children by school cafeterias.
A mother of three, she had some success catering, but has not reached her long-term goal of taking over as a school lunch provider.
Now, the goal is becoming more attainable because the café will house the commercial grade kitchen necessary to do school catering, Minniefield said.
“We want to be open for the start of the school year because we want to start courting principals and letting them know we offer school services,” she said.
Though the restaurant owners do not have a background in food, both are family cooks and have an equally important resource available to them: their children, who serve as taste testers.
“Kids are our target customers, and we’re just bringing their parents along for the ride,” Minniefield said.
The Natural Life Café began publicity efforts on May 24, selling their signature apple lemonade, Omni and Herbi sandwiches, and grilled corn on the cob, at the Sowebohemian Arts Festival, an annual festival in the Hollins Market neighborhood.
Darren Brown, co-owner of Sweet Tooth Dessert Shop on Hollins Street, said he expects the café to fill a lunch-time void in the area, which lacks a healthy food venue, he said. The Bistro, the restaurant that used to be in Natural Life’s space, was also a locally owned business.
“The good thing is that I know people enjoyed having a nice little neighborhood restaurant like that,” he said.
Though they have concerns about opening a restaurant in a tough economy, the pair said they are confident they are filling a need in the Hollins Park neighborhood and are thinking of ways to make their food affordable to as many people as possible, such as through a dollar menu, they said.
The restaurant’s mission extends past providing healthy food that children like. The owners are seeking out environmentally and socially conscious suppliers, such as Vanguard Ranch in Gordsonville, Va., which will be the café’s source of produce. They are also planning to host rejuvenation retreats, a series of outdoor day or weekend trips for families.
“It’s about building relationships among human beings and being good to one another,” said Minniefield, echoing the restaurant’s motto, “Real food changes people.”
While the cost of opening a restaurant can vary drastically, the passion behind Natural Life is also necessary for its survival, said Paul Hartgen, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland.
“If they made the choice to open a business now, they’re probably looking at everything with a much different set of lenses than someone who opened five years ago,” said Hartgen, who emphasized the importance of cautiously deciding how money is allocated.
The restaurant will be open for breakfast and lunch and will serve wraps, soups and salads ranging from $3.50 to $7. It will feature indoor seating for 20, as well as outdoor seating once permits are acquired.
Source:http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=11689&type=UTTM
Daily Record Business Writer
June 8, 2009 7:59 PM
The café was scheduled to open last week, but the owners postponed the debut so they could finish acquiring the necessary building permits, a process that might have gone faster had they chosen to take out loans, Armah said. They hope to be open within a month, she said.
However, the self-described “eco-entrepreneur moms” have opted to follow what they call their “lunch money plan,” squeezing any spare money they have into the project and calling on friends and family when they need help with manual labor, such as laying tile and grout work.
So far, they have invested $10,000 into the project, a number that could double before the restaurant is fully operating, Armah said.
“We’re totally doing this grassroots. We have events and cater
events when we have higher expenses,” she said.
Minniefield also continues to work full-time as a computer engineer with Allegis Group in Hanover.
The restaurant is an outgrowth of Lunch by Nature Inc., a catering service started seven years ago by Minniefield when she became disturbed by the amount of fried food pumped at children by school cafeterias.
A mother of three, she had some success catering, but has not reached her long-term goal of taking over as a school lunch provider.
Now, the goal is becoming more attainable because the café will house the commercial grade kitchen necessary to do school catering, Minniefield said.
“We want to be open for the start of the school year because we want to start courting principals and letting them know we offer school services,” she said.
Though the restaurant owners do not have a background in food, both are family cooks and have an equally important resource available to them: their children, who serve as taste testers.
“Kids are our target customers, and we’re just bringing their parents along for the ride,” Minniefield said.
The Natural Life Café began publicity efforts on May 24, selling their signature apple lemonade, Omni and Herbi sandwiches, and grilled corn on the cob, at the Sowebohemian Arts Festival, an annual festival in the Hollins Market neighborhood.
Darren Brown, co-owner of Sweet Tooth Dessert Shop on Hollins Street, said he expects the café to fill a lunch-time void in the area, which lacks a healthy food venue, he said. The Bistro, the restaurant that used to be in Natural Life’s space, was also a locally owned business.
“The good thing is that I know people enjoyed having a nice little neighborhood restaurant like that,” he said.
Though they have concerns about opening a restaurant in a tough economy, the pair said they are confident they are filling a need in the Hollins Park neighborhood and are thinking of ways to make their food affordable to as many people as possible, such as through a dollar menu, they said.
The restaurant’s mission extends past providing healthy food that children like. The owners are seeking out environmentally and socially conscious suppliers, such as Vanguard Ranch in Gordsonville, Va., which will be the café’s source of produce. They are also planning to host rejuvenation retreats, a series of outdoor day or weekend trips for families.
“It’s about building relationships among human beings and being good to one another,” said Minniefield, echoing the restaurant’s motto, “Real food changes people.”
While the cost of opening a restaurant can vary drastically, the passion behind Natural Life is also necessary for its survival, said Paul Hartgen, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland.
“If they made the choice to open a business now, they’re probably looking at everything with a much different set of lenses than someone who opened five years ago,” said Hartgen, who emphasized the importance of cautiously deciding how money is allocated.
The restaurant will be open for breakfast and lunch and will serve wraps, soups and salads ranging from $3.50 to $7. It will feature indoor seating for 20, as well as outdoor seating once permits are acquired.
Source:http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=11689&type=UTTM
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