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The State Court Cafe was a Boise institution, on a small scale, for more than four decades. Its simple fare, plain furnishings and down-home atmosphere--not to mention low prices and large portions--attracted a core clientele that held on to the end, some six months ago. Surprisingly, some of those same folks now are among habitues of the Earth Food Cafe & Juice Bar that has sprung up in its place at 2907 W. State St. In terms of cuisine the two restaurants could not be more different. The Earth Food Cafe offers an all-vegetarian selection, billed as "all natural," and takes pains in its menu to highlight items that contain dairy products or eggs. Upon request, they can be made egg-and "dairy-free," for strict lacto-ovo vegetarians. (excerpt)
The State Court Cafe was a Boise institution, on a small scale, for more than four decades.
Its simple fare, plain furnishings and down-home atmosphere--not to mention low prices and large portions--attracted a core clientele that held on to the end, some six months ago.
Surprisingly, some of those same folks now are among habitues of the Earth Food Cafe & Juice Bar that has sprung up in its place at 2907 W. State St.
In terms of cuisine the two restaurants could not be more different.
The Earth Food Cafe offers an all-vegetarian selection, billed as "all natural," and takes pains in its menu to highlight items that contain dairy products or eggs. Upon request, they can be made egg-and "dairy-free," for strict lacto-ovo vegetarians.
The Earth Food folks--described by partners Michelle Reynolds and Clinton Shirley as a community of like-minded, sharing people--even say the eggs that go into their omelets come from happy, free-roaming chickens.
"Our eggs are certified and graded, but they're from cage-free chickens," Shirley said. Earth Food buys them from Mountain People, a natural-foods wholesaler in northern California.
"We check on the ethics and backgrounds of the producers, and on what they do with their money," he said. It's-important to us to do business with a company that has high moral and environmental standards."
No milk-fed veal for these folks, or any other kind of veal, beef or even chicken. And, oh yes, they offer a 5 percent discount to customers who bicycle in.
If that sounds too 'alternative' to make it on State Street, cheek by jowl with Howard's Alignment and the Like-Nu Car Wash, the partners say business has been surprisingly strong since they opened at the end of the July.
"We were hit the first day pretty hard, and it's been busy ever since," said Reynolds. "Yesterday was a record day."
"It's been wonderful--twice what we expected" added Shirley.
While customers naturally include Boise's organic-alternative folks--many of whom the partners have known for years from their work with the Consumer Co-Op on Hill Road--they also include "some of the regulars from the old State Court Cafe" and a range of other people, Shirley said.
He attributed that diversity to the Earth Food Cafe's "family, personable atmosphere" and its six-page menu, which has "something for everyone."
Examples:
* Outrageous Omelet with "rainbow homefries and chutney or brown rice.
* Reuben Scramble made with onions, mushrooms, Swiss cheese and tempeh, defined as "a protein-rich food of beans and grains cultured into a dense cake, meat-like in texture.
* Avocado Salsa salad containing, among more familiar ingredients, jicama..."a large round vegetable with a crispy, sweet flavor.
* Peace Dog...a tofu hotdog on a whole-grain bun topped with natural ketchup.
* Celestial Seitan Thai Curry, featuring with "a high-protein food made from the gluten of wheat to make a savory, chewy main dish ingredient.
Beverages on hand include "moo milk" (from cows), soya milk, herbal teas, non-alcoholic beer and wine, mineral water and coffee "brewed by a cold-extract method" that the Earth people say "makes for a smoother flavor with reduced acids and oils."
So a non-alternative person can go to the Earth Food Cafe and have coffee. There are also such familiar items as pancakes (whole-grain, natch), breads, muffins and cookies.
The menu isn't all that's different. Everyone is paid the same, tips are shared out equally, "and everyone's personally dedicated to making the restaurant work, said Reynolds.
"There isn't an employer-employee relationship," she said. "Everybody feels as important as everyone else," Shirley added.
But "it is a profit-making business," Reynolds said--and one that has entrepreneurial ambitions.
Shirley said that after the restaurant is firmly established, Earth Food Energy People, as the group styles itself, intends to launch a sprout-wholesaling business serving supermarkets and restaurants, and hopes ultimately to get into wholesaling certified-organic vegetables and fruits.
"The market for high-quality, consistent sprouts is there," Shirley said, adding that the Earth Food folks already have in their possession an automated Japanese "sprout machine" featuring moisture and light controls.
Wholesale ventures could help finance what some of the Earth Food people dream of: A community-living arrangement. "That is our intention;" Shirley said. "Most everyone is looking for that in the future...we hope to have some land."
"We already have a community, inclusive of everybody," Reynolds added. "We feel the world is our community."
The two cited the group's five guiding principles--"love, peace, abundance, enlightenment and joy"--which Reynolds unabashedly termed "truths of the universe."
To the un-organic, all this may sound like La-La Land, but the Earth folks seem realistic enough when it comes to the hard work necessary to make a business fly.
The restaurant premises, which they lease from Corner Properties, required a great deal of cleaning and remodeling, in which Earth Food people participated as volunteers, Reynolds said.
The place was covered with "20 years of grease" and "was really a wreck," Reynolds said. "The clean-up "took us a lot longer than we thought it would."
"When we first came in here, it was like someone had just closed the door, and then the next day decided not to come in." Shirley said. "There were half-made milkshakes in the kitchen, and half-eaten eggs in dishes."
New fixtures were added and facilities rearranged. The walls are now painted a cool green, and offerings of local artists--exhibited free--adorn them.
A deck has been added in front, with a bike rack nearby. Parking is behind an adjacent building.
The location? The partners, who also include Cindy Haggen-miller and Tracie Kern, considered downtown but found it pricey. Maybe in the future, they said--or maybe a second store.
Opening on State Street, which its heavy through traffic, was "kind of scary at first," Shirley acknowledged, "but everything's clicked."
Copyright Idaho Business Review Aug 22, 1994