Fresh-pressed juice may now be as common as cannoli in Carroll Gardens, but a new BK biz called Rawpothecary has taken the crowded market by storm — and yogis aren’t the only ones to take notice. At their “Made In Brooklyn” awards last fall, the borough’s official Chamber of Commerce crowned Rawpothecary Crowned “Best Beverage.”
It’s clear the young company has skin in the juice game — produce skin, that is. “Only stems and ends get tossed,” says founder . Which means you’re getting the fruit, the whole fruit. Nothing but the fruit. Isn’t that refreshing?
Walczak had been working as an art advisor for nearly twenty years when her eating habits, so positively effecting her inner alignment and outward appearance, became less of a daily routine and more like a business plan. She made a pact with herself that the next big art deal she brokered would fund her grand-scale juicing dreams. According to plan, after auctioning off a piece by Zeng Fanzhi at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong (for four times its original estimated value) she took the earnings and ran toward her Vitamix. Then she dove into the juicing craze that has taken the city by kale-stem storm. “I jumped off the very successful cliff of the art world, into the pool of madness” said Walczak, “I had no idea how crazy the food industry was.” Her bottles, including “Dandelion Detox” and “Kale Warrior,” are now available from Whole Foods to Key Food.
Although new to the hoops and hurdles of a commercial kitchen, clean eating was second nature for Walczak, who had been visiting Peruvian ashrams for half of her life and long supplementing her diet with blended greens “that made my skin glow.” Rawpo, as the juice line is lovingly nicknamed, relies on Walczak’s extensive knowledge of ingredients (“Hypocrites grew watercress around his hospital, to ward off respiratory and blood infections” she adds, explaining the detoxifying properties of the “Cress Fresh” juice) and the notion that we need skin and pulp for ultimate nutrient absorption.
Unlike cold-pressed juices which extract nutrient-laden water and discard the fiber, Rawpo relies on all of those outer layers, thick insides and seeds for the award-winning side effects: sustained energy, bright eyes and radiant skin (primarily the result of fiber). Talk about drinking to your health.
Photo credit: Facebook / Rawpothecary
