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Business & Tech

Café Crush Blends Green Vegetables and Green Business

The smoothies and chai at Piedmont Ave's newest addition are made with love for local food and local folks.

“I love food, from the molecular level to eating it at the table," said Lacey Pettigrew, owner of a new juice, smoothie and chai bar on Piedmont Avenue. 

Pettigrew thought she would use her degree in nutrition and food science from California State University, Chico to become a food scientist. She also considered opening a bed and breakfast. But when she found a vacant space on Piedmont Avenue, she jumped at it. Café Crush opened in March.

“I’m all about fresh and healthy food that tastes good and feeds your soul,” Pettigrew said. She credits her mom for showing her how to be creative in the kitchen.

The unusual combinations of fruits and vegetables in Café Crush's smoothies are delicious once you get past the idea of mixing, say, apples and lettuce. Actually, the smoothies are a refreshing change from the ubiquitous too-sweet blends you can barely suck through a straw.

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Equally outstanding is the house chai, sipped hot or cold. The secret recipe includes chamomile, surprisingly, along with a mélange of spices and rooibos (non-caffeinated) tea. For more punch, you can order a “dirty tea,” with an added shot of espresso.

Sandwiches and pastries will be added to the menu soon.

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Pettigrew is aiming to make Café Crush a green business in every way possible. She gets as much of her produce as she can from local growers and fills in the gaps with trips to Berkeley Bowl. She donates all the compostables left over from making smoothies to O.B.U.G.S., an urban garden program that primarily serves students in north and west Oakland.

Beyond the efforts to give back to the earth, Pettigrew is working on making Café Crush a place where good things happen. Less than a month after the café opened, an exhibit of collage art made by local artist Kara Nelson from recycled elements went up. Future plans include evenings of spoken word and live music.

Right now you can settle into a comfortable nook inside the café with your laptop (there's free wi-fi), or head back to the patio to hang out in the garden-in-progress.

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