The sign that identifies the tiny Grassroots Café in Philadelphia's Manayunk neighborhood is so small it's barely visible from the bustling, vibrant shopping district of Main Street, a half a block away. And that's exactly what owners Sundya Ramachandran, 35, and Michael Saidman, 30 intended.

The restaurant's interior is unassuming. Upon your entering, a counter space offers "grab-n-go" items, including sandwiches, smoothies and coffee drinks. Keep walking and you'll find the sunken dining room, a modest, colorful room with painted concrete floors, wooden tables and chairs, a blackboard with specials, and rotating artwork (everything from abstract paintings to Eminem portraits). Having carved its own niche in a neighborhood overrun with hoagie and cheese steak joints, Grassroots offers vegetarian breakfast and lunch fare every day featuring organic fresh ingredients, straight from Pennsylvania's nearby farms.

The two owners have a sense of dedication that stems from a lifetime of commitment to healthy living. Ramachandran's love of food was instilled in her from early childhood. She grew up in a household where food was revered. Her mother cooked everything from scratch, even grinding her own flour. Her vegetarian parents taught her about eating healthy and putting love into a meal.

That upbringing instilled a food fervor in Ramachandran, one that she is anxious to share with anyone who will listen.

"She's very passionate about her food," smiles Saidman.

When Saidman first met Ramachandran at a small New Jersey café several years ago (she was his boss), he found her zeal infectious. When the café decided to start roasting their own coffee beans, Saidman learned from Ramachandran's wealth of coffee knowledge, and their relationship began to grow, along with a dream to own their own place.

After leaving the café, the two began searching for a location to open a coffeehouse. They found that Manayunk was within the distance radius outside of New Jersey in which they were willing to move and wasn't totally saturated with coffeehouses-- like many of the neighborhoods they had searched. The space they found was just off Main Street, a high foot traffic street lined with boutiques, bars and restaurants.

"Our philosophy was to keep things really good and simple at the same time," said Saidman. "Simple food, great full flavor, excellent service and energy. That's what we wanted to create."

Originally, they focused on coffee, tea and dessert, then slowly began to add some food items.

"We were making these little grab-and-go sandwiches fresh every day and people loved them," said Ramachandran, "so we turned one of our seating areas into a kitchen."

Three years later, the two are still keeping things at a grassroots level. A typical busy shift will find Ramachandran and Saidman (they're the only two that cook) hovering over the two burners and two pans in their tiny kitchen, creating omelets for hungry, early risers and made-from-scratch soups for lunch guests.

Every decision and business practice comes straight from Ramachandran's and Saidman's personal beliefs. They don't advertise because they don't believe in competition. They rely on their dedicated customers' word-of-mouth. They recycle as much as possible and even gather food waste and hike it up to their house just a few blocks away where they have several composting bins. They use the compost to fertilize their home garden where they grow herbs and vegetables. They also work directly with a farmer in Lancaster County who brings fresh eggs, yogurt, cheese, fruits and vegetables several times a week.

Their four, full-time employees operate the espresso and juice bar and serve up dishes to their dine-in customers like the Old Faithful sandwich: smoked gouda, heirloom tomato, hothouse cucumber, avocado and French honey mustard on fresh bread with organic greens. Other menu items are just as simple: homemade hummus and artisan bread, panini with Nutella and fresh banana, fruit and cheese plates and "straight from the garden" salads with homemade dressings. And while most of Ramachandran's mother's recipes are too difficult to replicate (and not often shared much to Saidman's disappointment), her traditional Indian mango lassi and chai tea are among customers' favorite beverages.

"I usually get a granola and yogurt and a mango lassi," said regular customer Kelly Anne Fisher, a Roxborough resident and Hospitality Management student at Drexel University. "I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm also not a big meat-eater so it helps me that it's a vegetarian restaurant."

As the partners' business has grown, it has also become greener. Originally they were serving some meat, and while they were free-range, hormone-free products, it was still hard for lifetime vegetarian Ramachandran.

"When we weren't vegetarian there were lots of things I couldn't taste," said Ramachandran. "I would know that it looked good and the ingredients were good, but it was tough for me because I could never really be passionate about it."

With great passion, comes great conviction. Don't expect the couple to keep their opinions to themselves. Grassroots customers who strike up a conversation with either owner will likely get a small discourse on why their omelet is not ready in two minutes and the benefits of enjoying and relishing their food. The two are members of the Slow Food Movement, an organization founded in 1986 that combats the fast food movement by promoting the slow preparation and enjoyment of a meal.

The top of Grassroots' menu reads "Please, sit back, savor and enjoy your time here. Join us and be a part of the Slow Food Movement. Our food is about fresh, simple ingredients put together thoughtfully."

Saidman and Ramachandran also base their business philosophy on Community Supported Agriculture, a practice that brings farm fresh food straight to the consumers. They operate a small co-op at the café where customers pay an up-front fee to the Lancaster County farmer who supplies the restaurant, which helps pay for the farm's operating expenses throughout the season. In return, the urban dwellers get a weekly bushel of the farm's produce and dairy products.

"It also gets people more into cooking at home," said Ramachandran, voicing a practice not often touted by restaurateurs. "I tell people, 'Come pick up your box, there's awesome stuff in here. Come learn about this rhubarb or come learn about this white beet.' Some of these people have never seen this food before and it makes me feel really good talking about what is out there and what tastes good."

The couple seems content with Grassroots' current state as a vegetarian café, using mostly organic products and employing enthusiastic people. But that doesn't mean they don't have plans for the future. They both would like to do more community education on healthy eating. Plans are already lined up to hold monthly seminars on organic living for a local chiropractor's clientele. Another idea in the works is to offer a week's worth of ready-made meals that can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. This way, people wouldn't have to cook on a daily basis, but they could still have really good food waiting for them after work, explained Ramachandran.

They've talked about opening for dinner, and open two nights a month to showcase local musicians. But being open for dinner would require a second shift and more resources, which is something they resist. Right now just Saidman and Ramachandran cook. Handing over their two burners to someone else, who may not have the same ardor, seems to make them uneasy.

"Where we're at right now is the ideal," said Ramachandran. "We're really enjoying it."

Grassroots Café is located at 110 Cotton Street, just off Main Street in Manayunk. The telephone number is (215) 482-0300.

Copyright 2004 | Contact Us | Submission Guidelines | Staff | Obtain a Copy | Home