Charlottesville is certainly not a food desert — but for those who want fresh food on the Corner, it may as well be.
In the past year, recent University graduates Alberto Namnum and Jung Kim along with fourth-year Commerce students Joseph Linzon and Alvaro Anspach have worked to launch a restaurant which aims to address this very issue.
Roots — coming to the Corner next semester — will provide the Charlottesville community with healthy and natural food options, including salads, quinoa and wild rice dishes.
“We always really knew there was a need for healthy food on the Corner,” Anspach said. “We talked to people, and everyone who runs or tries to stay healthy is pretty frustrated with the food options on the Corner.”
The four began researching the food industry and looking into local properties to launch their business. The group spent nearly eight months looking for the perfect property before they decided on 1329 Main Street, next to Fig restaurant. The property is now under construction in preparation for their tentative opening in Feb. 2015.
“I think the craziest part about this is when you get into it, you don’t realize how many different things you touch with a restaurant — whether it’s learning how to pitch investors or how to raise money and [talk] to architects and contractors,” Anspach said.
To get the project off the ground, each member of the team invested personal money in the business and pitched the idea to family members. The group relied largely on expertise from Linzon’s dad, who is an investor and has franchised hundreds of restaurants throughout Canada. Each member of the four-man team, meanwhile, offers a unique set of skills to the group.
“We wanted to create the best team, because there is something to be said about an idea only being the minute part of the concept and the team and execution being the rest,” Anspach said.
To earn additional funds, the group participated in the “Galant Challenge,” winning the support of an outside investor. The challenge, a competition run through the Commerce School and the University’s Entrepreneurship Group, allows students to offer live pitches to potential investors who regularly invest in start-up businesses and offer students up to $250,000 in capital.
The group’s new investor, Paul Gannon, is a University alumnus who recently retired as CEO from Baupost Group, a large hedge fund in Boston.
“I don’t know where we would be without him,” Namnum said. “He is someone who is involved and asks important things of us and pushes us.”
The team has also worked to broadcast the importance of nutrition and healthy eating habits to the greater Charlottesville community. They have partnered with the Children’s Hospital and have pledged to donate a percentage of their profit to the hospital each year. This January, the students will give a presentation on wellness to a group of 12- to 18-year-old girls who struggle with obesity.
“We talk about empowerment, but who could use it more than a teen who is obese and may develop diabetes and heart disease?” Namnum said. “It’s hard to stay healthy and we want to try and help [these teens] a little bit, and then more directly by donating to the Children’s Hospital.”
Ultimately, through their business, the four founders aim not only to serve healthy and diverse food but to raise awareness about the positive effects of good nutrition.
“The message behind our brand is that if you choose to eat healthy, you choose to invest in yourself and you choose to empower yourself, and it spills over all across your life,” Anspach said. “I think that food is the most powerful substance in the world, so why not use it to your advantage?”
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