- May 1, 2024
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The Ginger Root Market, a raw/vegan/organic/ethnic café, recently expanded its raw food options at City Marketplace.
When the Ginger Root Market opened about a year ago in City Marketplace, owner Edna Kellmann envisioned it as Flagler County’s go-to vegetarian shop. After bringing raw food chef Carol Brown, formerly of Flagler Beach’s Almond Blossom Café, on board at the end of July, though, the vision transformed.
“All the raw food that we serve is actually still alive,” Brown said. “It’s living food.”
Brown led the Ginger Root down a raw-only path, recently expanding the store’s organic/vegan options in the grocery and café, where Brown prepares all meals fresh to order.
Instead of a hidden kitchen, she works in an open area toward the back of the store. After ordering, clients sit by the counter and watch her create their meals. She says she usually has conversations while preparing, customers ask her questions and they share recipes.
A Jamaica native, Kellman stocks the Ginger Root with ethnic items, also — Caribbean, African and Indian products, and frozen entrees.
The store also makes its own vinegar and grows most of its own sprouts, wheatgrass and Kombucho tea, which Brown calls an “ancient health tonic.”
“(But) contrary to popular belief,” she said, “(raw food) doesn’t all have to be cold.”
About half of the Ginger Root’s menu is currently raw and the other half is vegan/vegetarian. But many of the raw items are heated — just not over 115 degrees, which is mild enough to hold the nutrients and enzymes, but hotter than a hot tub.
With ground-walnut birthday cakes and almond-cream key-lime pie available to order, Brown calls herself the “queen of the raw bakery.” Just try to tell the difference between her baked-like goods and those made from milk, she challenges.
“My motto is,” she said, “Anything you can make cooked, I can make raw.”
The Ginger Root also recently started a Tuesday night Rah-rah Raw Club, a support group for those who either want to become a raw foodist, or just eat healthier. The club promotes a 30-day raw challenge through a group support system.
“We’re all about digestion,” Brown said. “If a person’s digestive system is not working properly, their body is not working properly.”
Brown believes there is no disease — cancer, diabetes, nothing — that can’t be reversed and cured by a raw diet.
“Good health is all about cleansing. Alternative medicine is all about cleansing. When an organ is defective, it’s because it’s toxic. We just basically keep each other on track. You have 30 days to go from where you were, to something better.”
Kellman, who used work in a Maryland school system as a food-service manager and teacher assistant, opened the Ginger Root after retirement. Now, all she wants is to see it “blossom.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more people out there like me,” Kellman said. And because of her store, she believes they’re all eating healthier.
For more, call 446-7535.
HORIZON EXPANSION
At the Ginger Root Café, try a walnut-tuna hummus wrap, some seed cheese, almond ice cream, zucchini spaghetti or flaxseed-battered onion rings. Order a ground-walnut birthday cake — dehydrated instead of baked — or buy a slice of almond-cream key-lime pie.
