Fully Vegetarian, Fully Organic CBD Cafe From Madison County To Open Soon

MARSHALL – Health-conscious residents of Madison County will soon have another budget-friendly and appetizing option, as an all-vegetarian, all-organic restaurant is slated to open in downtown Marshall.

The CBD Cafe, located in the building previously occupied by Good Stuff next to Zuma, will offer a full menu of vegetarian options. Owner Peter Ford said he also plans to offer live music at the venue.

As the name suggests, the restaurant will also feature CBD in its dishes, Ford said.

“If it’s not organic, it won’t be on the menu,” said Ford. “CBD is just something you can add. So if you’re like, “Hey, I want your plate of fries, and give me that with 33 mg of CBD, then we can do that.” You can add CBD to any of the drinks too. “

Ford, who has lived in Marshall since 2005, said the restaurant will also have a handful of CBD drinks as “elixirs” on its menu.

Renovation of the building began in May, according to the owner.

Marshall Health Collective

Ultimately, the owner’s plan is to showcase the CBD-related products available through Terpene Valley, a local business, and refer to the entire building as the Marshall Health Collective.

“The Marshall Health Collective also includes the companies that provide us with some of the essences: Wise Earth Way, Go With the Flow CBD, and Terpene Valley,” Ford said. “So we will have these people who will contribute to the whole healthy vibe and bring healthy alternatives, so that you can go out and hear music and have a good time and drink a healthy drink that will help you light up.” and bring a higher consciousness. yours.”

Ford said he plans to offer groceries outside the building.

“The storefront will of course contain all of our baked goods – muffins, cupcakes and breads, but also, you can buy peanuts, peanut butter, almond butter, chickpeas and hummus,” said he declared. “So it will be kind of like in a grocery store, but using only the raw ingredients or the finished product. We won’t just buy things and sell them back. We will make them or it’s a raw product.”

Ford said everything will be homemade except for the tofu, tempeh and cheeses.

The philosophy of coffee

As for the cafe, the owner said he hired a crew at the front and back of the house, and the health department issued ServSafe certificates on December 29.

Although Ford hasn’t owned a restaurant in the past, he made sure to bring in an experienced team.

Ja Wall, the general manager of the cafe, has weddings with his wife at the Hot Springs’ Mountain Magnolia Inn.

“I really feel like we bring more to the table than most vegetarian restaurants, or even (other restaurants) incorporating CBD into it as well,” Wall said. “It’s pretty exciting. I can’t wait to be there.”

Wall previously owned Bacchus in Marshalll and helped open HomeGrown in Asheville. He was planning to move away from the industry, but coffee was too sweet a business to be left out, he said.

“I swore when I got out of restaurants that was it – I was going to work for myself and never again (work in restaurants),” Wall said. “(Ford) dissuaded me from retiring, and we’re coming back to that.

“But it’s different this time. It’s fun. We can really support whatever we do – the juice, the elixirs and all the health awareness. That’s the whole package.”

Ford said the restaurant will showcase culinary talent from across the county, including Wall, a Marshall resident.

“We bring a lot of the best of the best locals to the table,” said Ford. “We have bakers coming into this business who have been baking for years. We have no trouble finding someone, and I think part of that is because people can argue that we are organic, and genuinely health conscious. ”

The cafe will serve breakfast throughout the day, Ford said.

“Everyone (Wall and I) hated the idea of ​​someone coming here at 11:15 am and telling us they want Eggs Benedict, and telling them we stopped serving them at 11:00 am,” he said. -he declares. “So we’re just going to do it all the time. ”

Ford, who has been a vegetarian since 1989, said he senses there is a following for vegetarian food in Madison County.

“I hope that basically once people come to try the food, they’ll say, ‘Oh, I don’t miss anything – I can eat an egg and cheese cookie, or I can have a platter of. eggs or French toast, or a veggie burger and fries. I just think there is enough stuff where there will be something for everyone. It is hope. ”

The owner said he would hand out samples to entice customers with new offerings for their pallets, including carrot bacon slices.

Ford is also planning to offer customers samples of cannabis juice, which he called “the fire behind (the whole operation)”.

“None of this would exist if it hadn’t been for raw cannabis,” he said. “It is the most medicinal thing I have ever experienced in my life. We just extract the leaves as if it were wheatgrass or kale or whatever. We run them through a juicer and juice them. It’s ridiculously, magically medicinal. “

The owner said he believes the juice can provide psychological and physical benefits.

“We had friends who had rheumatoid arthritis who took them away from the drugs they had been taking for 15 years,” he said. “People are just going to have to check it out. I’m so passionate about it, that anyone who comes here is what I ask, ‘Do you know about raw cannabis juice and would you like some? The first is on me. ‘”

The CBD Café will be open Sunday to Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.