Kathleen Hicks

Kathleen Hicks liked Rhythm-N-Roots Juice Bar and its healthy, whole-foods philosophy so much, she bought the company.
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The Green Goddess may sound too good to be true, but its magic is no mystery, according to Rhythm-N-Roots owner Kathleen Hicks.The sweetness, Hicks says, comes simply from the infusion of apple.The rush of oxygen to her bloodstream from raw fruits and vegetables that are full of enzymes caused Spyker's blissful reaction, Hicks maintains.
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For Hicks, the boutique-size eatery is nothing less than her source of salvation.For her customers, it's a place to get juices, smoothies and uncooked, dairy-free foods - including "pizzas," "burgers" and "spaghetti and meatballs" - that are packed with ground nuts, fresh herbs and organic fruits and vegetables.

The raw vegan movement began in the mid-1990s and has caught on enough to make a restaurant like Rhythm-N-Roots viable.The movement came along just in time for Hicks, who credits raw vegan foods with saving her life.A native of Guyana, Hicks once suffered from chronic depression exacerbated by drug and alcohol abuse.She was suicidal four years ago and checked herself into a recovery center that did little to improve her mental and physical health.

"After a year in recovery, it still wasn't happening," Hicks says.
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Hicks, a divorced mother of two grown daughters, worked as a caterer for high-end restaurants and later as a pastry chef before taking a job at Rhythm-N-Roots under the previous owner.She says working the juice bar and being around healthy food and people was fundamental to maintaining her new diet.When the site was put up for sale two years ago, Hicks couldn't help but buy it, not so much as a business venture but, she explains, "out of pure necessity and survival."

At age 44, Hicks says she has never felt better, and that sense of well-being is conveyed in her food.She still works the small juice bar, with just a blender, a juicer and a dehydrator, but now, the place bears her mark with raw recipes that are expertly prepared and highly appetizing.Her mixed green salad comes with sunflower sprouts, monk beans, wide slivers of fresh carrot, half an avocado and a generous scoop of curried nut paste.She makes an apple pie by pureeing the filling and making a crust from ground walnuts, almonds and dates.She also offers a raw version of carrot cake.

Nuts form the basis of the cold pizza and so-called "meat" dishes.For the pizza, Hicks makes a firm crust by blending ground sunflower seeds, flax seeds and almonds.She tops it with broccoli and cauliflower and a "nut cheese" of pureed almonds, garlic, olive oil, parsley and fresh dill.A fresh marinara sauce covers the pie, which is topped with kalamata olives.

Rhythm-N-Roots' take on meat loaf is made with sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, garlic, celery, rosemary, sage, thyme, ginger, jalapeños, red peppers and Braggs amino acids.The mixture is then dehydrated, giving it a dark-brown surface not unlike the real thing.Hicks says she misses cooking hot food and satisfies that need by making vegan soups.Still, while her delicious curried broccoli and lentil soup fortifies the system, it's her passion and talent for preparing raw foods that brings discerning vegans to her restaurant.

A pregnant woman comes for the juices because dried vitamins make her nauseous.A 54-year-old massage-therapy student says she feels regenerated since eating vegan.And residents from the nearby Hippocrates Health Institute stop by for pure, young coconut "shakes" on their way to the beach.

"People who come here are young, educated people who are into this.There's such an awareness.It's beautiful," Hicks says.