The story below is a preview from our November/December 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Fruits & Roots is providing your daily servings of fresh fruits and veggies in delicious new ways.
Layla Khoury-Hanold
Owner Christy Dilcher slices a banana for the fan-favorite Banana Bread Bowl.
It’s 8:30 a.m. on a Wednesday and downtown Roanoke is humming to life. Part of the buzz is emanating from Fruits & Roots, a juice bar and smoothie shop on Campbell Avenue SE, where owner Christy Dilcher is slicing bananas for a Banana Bread Bowl while answering a customer’s question about the benefits of turmeric. The shop is just steps from the Roanoke City Market where Dilcher first began selling her organic juices last May, growing a following for signature flavors like Beet Vitality and Sweet Green. Since officially opening its doors on June 13, 2023, Fruits & Roots has firmly cemented its status as the go-to spot for juices, smoothies and wellness bowls in downtown Roanoke.
Layla Khoury-Hanold
Fruits & Roots’ cheery space includes cafe tables and window nooks.
What makes Fruits & Roots’ juices stand-out is that they are made with all organic ingredients using a cold-pressed commercial juicing machine, which is vital for retaining nutrients (heat diminishes them). “From the beginning to the end everything stays cold, so it extends the shelf life and gives a better quality juice,” Dilcher explains, who produces the juices with her husband, Jimmy Dilcher. In addition, the juices are made without the addition of water or artificial sweeteners, letting the natural sweetness and flavors of the produce shine through. The Carrot Refresh, for example, features an earthy-sweet mix of fresh carrots, apple, lemon, ginger and turmeric, while the fruit-forward Mango Tango stars mango, pineapple, apple, orange and lemon.
Layla Khoury-Hanold
All juices are made without water, letting produce like this carrot-forward number shine.
The use of top-notch ingredients extends to the smoothies and wellness bowls too, which are made without ice and are chockful of nutrient-rich ingredients such as organic fruits, veggies or plant-based proteins. Most smoothies and wellness bowls have at least one superfood, like the Blue Wave smoothie which is crafted with blue spirulina, a detoxifying algae with anti-inflammatory properties, or the Chocolate Peanut Butter bowl, which contains maca, good for regulating hormones and a good source of vitamin B and fiber. There’s also a menu of add-ons, like the popular ashwaganda, a root and adaptogen that Dilcher says relieves stress and boosts cognitive functioning.
The genesis for Fruits & Roots started with Dilcher’s sister, Tracey Bryant, who also eats a plant-based diet and founded the original Fruits & Roots shop in Pennsylvania four years ago. Inspired to learn more, Dilcher spent the last couple years voraciously consuming articles about plant-based eating and documentaries like What the Health and The Game Changers. “The more educated I became, the more I wanted to change my eating habits. And I became more aware of how much the food that we eat impacts our health,” Dilcher says. “I thought, well, this area needs a place like that.”
Want to learn more about Fruits & Roots? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our November/December 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!