Columbus Natives Bring Natural Food Restaurant and Grocery to Downtown

Columbus State University alumnus Olivia Amos, Chef Brandy Whitney, and Chef Lauren Havican are working hard to promote healthy eating in our community, and this March they will debut their new organic grocery store and dining venue called Bare Roots Farmacy in downtown Columbus. Anyone who wants fresh, locally sourced organic food may find the store at 105 12th street in the old Planet Pops building.

Bare Roots will offer a multitude of services including meal preparation, indoor and outdoor dining, as well as groceries like produce, dairy, meats, poultry, grains, and gluten-free bread. The store on 12th is an expansion of their already successful meal-prepping project called Bare Roots Paleo. The focus of Bare Roots Farmacy is to bring healthier food options to Columbus.

“Bare Roots began as a paleo-delivery system for people who needed a good diet for their workout regimen, or just needed help with healthy eating in general,” said Whitney. “We started the project over two years ago with a small group. Now, we are doing almost 120 meals a day.” As the customer base grew larger, Amos and Whitney realized there was potential for a larger operation of the same type. Whitney added that the diets have been very effective for many clients, like one 80-year-old woman with hypertension and diabetes who now takes no medication after help from the Bare Roots team.

“Diet is extremely important for a healthy lifestyle, and meal prepping can be time consuming and difficult,” said Whitney. “With Bare Roots Farmacy, we want to make the benefits of cleaner eating more convenient for everybody.” Amos added that at Bare Roots, customers would be able to order meals in advance for pick-up, or sit down and have a healthy meal if they prefer. The menu, which Amos says will change weekly depending on the type of produce available, will offer breakfast and lunch items throughout the day and many of those items will be vegan or vegetarian.

In addition to exploring an à la carte menu, guests may build their own salads from a salad bar, or construct a dish from a sweet potato bar with sweet potatoes prepared in several ways. Dinner will be available on Fridays and Saturdays, but seats must be reserved by acquiring “dining tickets,” which function similar to making a reservation. Tickets may be found on the Bare Roots Farmacy website: www.barerootsfarmacy.com. “The dinner menus are going to be similar to a prefixed menu,” Havican said. “They will have four to five courses with selections for each course.” Wine pairings with dinner will also be available. All items found on the menu will be made from farms in the region.

“The whole place is going to be farm-to-table, and we are sourcing from local farms all across Georgia,” Amos said. “That’s part of the reason behind the brand name as well; we used to eat locally back in the day, so we are trying to get back to those roots.” Many of the farms providing product to Bare Roots will be familiar to customers who frequent Uptown Market Days. Some of the farms participating are Little Bit Farms, Turn Time Farms, Pecan Point Farms, Bulger Creek Farms, and Georgia Crown Farms.

“The atmosphere will be relaxing and comfortable,” Amos said. “There will be baskets on the tables for cell phones and even communal seating. We want dining to be a social activity where people talk to each other instead of staring at their cell phones all day.” The multi-purpose store, which will seat approximately 50 people and is currently applying for an alcohol license, will also have a bar that serves both vegan and non-vegan beer and wine, and even kombucha.

From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., diners can relax with beer and wine at happy hour prices during a period Amos referred to as, “Uncork and Unwine.” She added that plans for cheese and charcuterie are also in the works. In addition to opening a storefront, the trio are working on other projects in the community that promote healthy eating.

“We need to start teaching our community to eat healthier,” said Amos. “There are not many places in town to find local organic produce, and we are working to fill that void.” Amos voiced concern about the popularity of fast food and noted that college kids are eating terrible as well. “People on low-budget and fixed incomes can eat healthy too,” Havican said. “They simply don’t learn to cook anymore because of the availability and convenience of all the fast food.” To help combat this problem, the three ladies are working with schools and organizations in the community by promoting school greenhouses and gardens for the kids to learn about healthier food options.

“We have already got a garden going at Cascade Hills church and we are working on one at Girls, Inc.,” Amos said. “The kids get to have fun learning about farming, and that involvement in the process breaks some reservations that they might have otherwise had about healthy food options.” According to Amos, the produce created by these urban garden programs will be available not only to Bare Roots, but to other restaurants in Columbus. Whitney said, “we have to get back to eating right or else there are going to be dire consequences.” Bare Roots wants to help CSU students too, so they will offer a discount to students with proper identification.