A new cold-pressed juicery headed for Dunedin is bringing wanderlust back.
Building up their Green Elephant Juice Bar through the Westchase Sunday Morning Market and private clients for a couple years, serial travelers Alexandra and Maria Chaar — who’ve driven as far as the Orlando area to meet up with customers requesting delivery — decided to find their storefront on a whim. They needed something different.
“It’s time to open a store,” Alexandra recalls telling her older sister.
Less than 48 hours later, a 1,200-square-foot former antique shop not far from the heart of downtown was theirs. But to grow the business, they had to go all in with a fresh identity. So, with trips throughout Europe, Africa, South America and the Caribbean under their belts, the twosome went with a nod to their globe-trotting tendencies: Escape Root Juicery. (Their new simple-yet-intriguing logo, which has experienced a journey of its own, is being finalized.)
The Chaars see their vision at 769 Main St. as more than a juice bar. It’s a way to “escape to the good life” — and away from the ordinary.
Coffee for the morning crowd, smoothies, raw snacks, acai bowls and kombucha on tap, plus popular juices like The Big Green (spinach, apple and way more) and The Islander (coconut water, fresh citrus and ginger), will be served to start. After a few months, the juicery will start offering veggies, fruit and hummus on its raw foods-driven menu.
To normalize healthier choices and incorporate them into more daily routines, Escape will accept takeaway or call-ahead orders. But those who choose to stay awhile will lounge in everything from a peacock chair to bar stools to mismatched chairs. Spanish tile, acai bowls served in coconut shells, and photos from the the duo’s previous trips will also reflect the spacious juice bar’s around-the-world theme.
The Chaars don't specialize in one type of cold-pressed creation. According to Alexandra, "We kind of want to focus on everything."
Meaghan Habuda
“It’s gonna make you feel different,” Maria says. “You’re traveling, you’re hiking, you’re making pottery, whatever — all those things that get you on a feel-good level, that’s what we want to encompass when you’re here. We want this place to feel like your good day.”
Everything will have a story, the sisters say, including the patrons. They’re eager to collaborate with the community on their juice bar, whether that means evolving the cold-pressed selection or putting a customer’s travel mementos on display.
Maria and Alexandra plan to showcase their travel photos on a wall in the bathroom, and once acquainted with the neighborhood, they hope others will bring their own to add. Community trips to somewhere like Lake Tahoe could take place down the line, too.
“That’s our biggest thing, wanting to involve everybody in what we’re doing. There’s nothing more exciting than to have our business grow with other people,” Alexandra says.
While their juicery is the first of its kind for Dunedin (which Alexandra, a former Casa Tina waitress, refers to as “home” more than once), the Chaars knew they wanted a storefront there. And Escape’s location on the main commute route, rather than downtown, doesn’t bother them, either. Their delivery truck is on hiatus, but they’re still close enough to downtown to make deliveries nearby.
The sisters aim to open the doors at the beginning of August, and a grand opening event, celebrating what Maria says is probably the longest amount of time they’ve stayed in one place, will follow a couple weeks later.
“You’re seeing more cafes and more stuff [opening outside of downtown], and Dunedin is exploding,” Maria says. “I think [Escape is] the missing link. It’s going to complement everything that’s already here.”
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 7, 2016.