Pure, Vashon’s newest café, opened last weekend, giving Islanders a venue for vegetable juices, smoothies and small bites for breakfast and lunch.
The focus will be on healthy food, according to owners Stephanie Morris and Kevin Gonzales: nutritious drinks made from as many organic ingredients as possible, gluten-free muffins and vegan soups, salads and sandwiches, with the menu evolving with the seasons.
Islanders’ response was
good over the opening weekend, according to Morris. “We even had repeat customers on the same day,” she said.
A blackboard in the café, located in the former home of Zanzibar Chocolates, lists the day’s offerings. Juices top the list, such as Morning Greens — made from greens, green apple, celery, ginger and lemon — and Bunnies Brew, with carrot, apple lemon and ginger. Smoothies made from nut milks and no sweetener are also featured, including one with berries, raw cacao, banana and hemp milk and another with strawberry, banana, mango and goji berries.
At lunch, customers are likely to find a “nature bowl,” with steamed quinoa or brown rice, tofu, carrots, sprouts, avocado and seeds, Morris said.
“Everything will be made here,” Morris said. “We want every ingredient accounted for.”
“There will be no unpronounceable ingredients at all,” Gonzales noted.
Morris and Gonzales, a husband and wife team, moved to Vashon five years ago and from the Island, ran their Los Angeles-based trucking business, which had belonged to Gonzales’ father. Last summer, after they closed their trucking business because of the poor economy, they began to work at the Quartermaster Inn & Restaurant, Gonzales in the kitchen and Morris as a waitress.
They both have a long-time interest in nutrition, and Morris fielded many questions about food.
“People want to know what they’re eating,” she said.
That growing desire, they hope, will draw Islanders to their new café.
“We just kind of took a leap,” Morris said. “Hopefully people will take to it.”
Pure, open Thursday through Monday, is located at 9925 S.W. Bank Road.
