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Robin Krause: Offering Clean Food at Unbakery and Juicery

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The recipe for success for Kansas City native Robin Krause is filled with organic ingredients, pinches of delicious spices, fresh-from-the-farm whole foods, nutritious goodness and lots of love. Combine that with her incredible knowledge of healthy and holistic living, and you come up with Unbakery and Juicery, at 634 East 63rd street, Kansas City, Missouri, a grab-and-go or sit-if-you-please eatery focused on organic, healthful food and beverages.

“I want to help people with food at Unbakery and Juicery. Everything is healthy grab and go, and you can’t find organic grab and go anywhere in this area. Our customer service is great. In fact, you can come in with any ailment, and we’ll try to help you,” shared Robin. “Dates are the main sweetener, and we make all milks in house, except for the whole dairy milk we use in our coffee bar. We use all-whole-food ingredients and work with local farmers for the freshest produce. We plan on starting our own herb garden on site.”

Food for Health
Robin refers to her offerings as “gluten free, dairy free and processed stuff free done right.” Her passion is helping her customers eat right and live a healthy lifestyle. “You cannot heal if you are not creating energy and wellness. I’d say 70 percent of my clientele have food allergies, many requiring a gluten-free diet. But 30 percent simply want to eat healthier,” she revealed. “I’m not raw or vegan. I love meat; however, I eat according to quality, not quantity.”

So what’s on the menu at Unbakery and Juicery? As the name implies, delicious juices, made through a cold-press method, offer you the most in nutrition and good taste. Their rainbow of bright colors delights the eye, satisfies the palate and delivers a positive outcome when consumed. Tonic waters and almond milk, infused with lots of good stuff, are created daily. In addition to the juices and tonics, one can try Unbakery’s customer favorites such as the Pad Thai salad, seared tuna with a tamari sesame dressing, the falafel wrap or many other gluten-free, raw, “unbaked” goods. Salads, wraps, parfaits, protein balls and, yes, even desserts, are offered at this super-sleek eatery. Feast on ingredients that sound as if they were harvested from your grandmother’s backyard garden, including lavender rose hempseed protein bars, rose-infused water and dandelion maple latte. Take it with you or sit with friends in the intimate setting.

Finding Knowledge
But what really sets this eatery apart from others can’t be found on the menu. It’s Robin herself and her extensive knowledge of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Over the years, she’s spent hundreds of hours achieving various certifications for holistic living and coaching, integrated nutrition and yoga instruction. With her wisdom and solid nutritional advice, Robin guides her customers through ailments as diverse as allergies, obesity, inflammation, digestive issues and more. Her drive to help others comes from her personal experiences.

“I owned all of the Filling Stations and the Soho Bakery for about 12 years, but the strain was overwhelming. I was stressed out more than I had ever been. I got sick with fatigue, exhaustion and more,” she recalled. “After four years in physicians’ offices and medications, I fired my doctors and started research on holistic healing and became gluten free.”

Robin’s experience is now at your service. Imagine calling upon a walking encyclopedia of clean eating when you visit Unbakery and Juicery. Robin runs through just a few of her products. Hump Day Happy Water, consisting of rose, 9.5 alkaline water, vitamin B12 and trace minerals, can help you power through the week. Her #9 H20 has blue majik, magnesium, lavender and alkaline water, and it’s designed to calm at night without crazy side effects. Packed with vitamins, #9 helps restore the body with 65 vitamins, minerals and amino acids. With this kind of menu, one might wonder if Unbakery and Juicery is a chemistry class or a place to fill your tummy with gluten free, dairy free, nut free and processed free. Either way, it’s intriguing and pleasing.

Creative Entrepreneurship
Her journey to establish Unbakery and Juicery came by chance. She was at a meeting across the street in the West Brookside neighborhood, discussing another opportunity, when she spotted a former bank building. The architecture exuded a 1960s eclectic vibe, with aluminum circular shapes decorating the outside of the A-frame structure. “During the entire meeting, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the building across the street. I just fell in love with it and the neighborhood. In fact, the old teller’s window is now the drive-through window and the safe on the inside is used as the coffee bar,” she laughed. With the encouragement of her husband, Danny, and son, Zeke, 15, Robin launched Unbakery and Juicery about a year ago. The success of the cafe has been outstanding and encouraging to Robin as she considers other forays into the world of healthy living.

An apothecary line that she’s named Apothé, based on knowledge gained during an extensive herbalist apprenticeship, has launched, starting with certified organic teas offering properties for self healing. Think sipping on natural ways to improve sleep, enjoying a morning or an afternoon detox, encouraging the metabolism with a skinny tea, benefiting from a cleansing tea or slipping into a sexy tea. Specialty shops and the Unbakery and Juicery are carrying the Apothé line of teas.

“In about a year, I’ll launch the Apothé line of creams, lotions and bath soaps that are good for the skin, draw out toxins and soothe,” she noted. “Also, within the next year, I’m searching for investors for a full wellness restaurant in the KC metro. I have the concept and design but haven’t settled on the location. Within another year, the restaurant would open.”

Encourage Quality
Yet for Midwesterners who grew up on hardy food, moving away from the type of diet Robin eschews may be a bit tough, especially for picky eaters, ranging from youngsters to oldsters. “We’re pounding away at our bodies by eating unhealthy food. For breakfast, we eat eggs, bacon, pancakes, cereal, and they’re all horrible to put in our bodies at any time,” commented Robin. “My mantra is, ‘What would I feed my kids?’ I saw my son going in the same direction as so many others, no energy, fatigue and breaking out. I wanted to set a positive and healthy example for him and other kids. Now he and his friends love my chia bowls, and they’re so good for you.”

To further coax a hesitant eater, Robin suggests reminding them of the quality of the food they’re putting into their bodies. Think farm to table. Eliminate GMOs, added hormones and processing. Consider organics and gluten free. Watch and read labels carefully. “You might think nothing about springing for five dollars on a cup of coffee but balk at spending that same amount on non-GMO and organic food,” she observed. “It’s time to change that mindset.”

While she’s big on juicing, Robin says she’s probably the only juice proponent in the world that disagrees with juice cleansings. She believes that detoxing occurs on a continuous basis when you consume the right foods and liquids. Robin suggests this example to use on a daily basis. “Start with our alkaline water in the morning. Do a juice and then a soup or salad for lunch. For the afternoon have another juice,” she noted. “Then try our Phat bomb as a little something extra in the afternoon. It’s organic and helps you absorb the nutrients from your food. In the evening, eat one of our grab-and-go salads or wraps or have one of our mylks, almond, black, pink, golden or blue.”

Learn through Reaching Out
While most of her advice is for a healthy lifestyle, she’s also willing to share her business success with others. Just as her food is bold and exciting, she extends that same mindset to her business dealings. The Apothé line is her tenth business venture. “I tell others not to be afraid. Be yourself, get out there and get your toes wet. You’ll get better and better,” she said. “Failure is a lesson. I’ve had businesses that failed but I didn’t let that hold me back. Ask for help from others. Even if they give you the cold shoulder, you’ll learn something. But eventually you’ll find someone who will help. Whatever happens, don’t be afraid to try because it’s so much fun.”

In addition to her advice for entrepreneurs, Robin is keen to offer guidance to women. “Women are so into nurturing others and being sensitive to others that we forget to take care of ourselves. Women can give 100 percent to family and job and think they’re successful,” Robin remarked. “But you can’t be sick and successful, so don’t be afraid to put yourself first, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember, eat healthy without starving yourself.”

According to Robin, when it comes to healthy eating, having a healthy mindset is just as important as living a healthy lifestyle. Her Unbakery and Juicery offers that opportunity to fill the mind with nutritional assistance and to satisfy the body with delicious food that’s good for you. It will be the foundation of a solid, fulfilling life.

“Good health is not a destination, it is your vehicle. It will take you where you want to be in life,” promised Robin. “Everything in life is based on being healthy.” ■

Follow Unbakery on Instagram and Facebook or visit the website at unbakeryandjuicerykc.com.