Downtown Marshall all-vegetarian/all-organic CBD cafe set to open soon

MARSHALL — Health-conscious Madison County residents will soon have another cost-efficient and appetizing option, as an all-vegetarian, all-organic eatery is set to open in downtown Marshall.

The CBD Cafe, located in the building previously occupied by Good Stuff next to Zuma's, will have a full menu of vegetarian choices. Owner Peter Ford said he plans to offer live music at the venue too.

As the name suggests, the restaurant will also offer CBD in its dishes, Ford said.

"If it's not organic, it's not going on the menu," Ford said. "The CBD is just something you can add. So, if you're like, 'Hey, I want your french fry plate, and give me that with 33 mg of CBD, then we can do that. You can add CBD to any of the drinks as well."

Ford, who has lived in Marshall since 2005, said the eatery will offer a handful of CBD drinks as "elixirs" on its menu too.

Renovation on the building began in May, according to the owner.

Marshall Health Collective

Eventually, the owner's plan is to showcase CBD-related products available through Terpene Valley, a local business, and refer to the entire building as Marshall Health Collective.

"The Marshall Health Collective also includes the companies that are providing us with some of the elixirs: Wise Earth Way, Go With the Flow CBD and Terpene Valley," Ford said. "So we'll have those people contributing to the whole healthy vibe and bringing healthy alternatives, so that you can go out and hear music and have a good time and drink a healthy beverage that is going to help enlighten you and bring a higher consciousness to you."

Ford said he plans to offer grocery products outside the building.

"The out front of course will have all our baked goods - the muffins, the cupcakes and the breads, but also, you'll be able to buy peanuts, peanut butter, almond butter, chickpeas and hummus," he said. "So, it'll be a little bit of a grocery store feel but only using the raw ingredients or the finished product. We won't just be buying stuff and reselling it. We'll either make it, or it's a raw product."

Ford said everything will be made in house, save for the tofu, tempeh and cheeses.

Cafe's philosophy

As for the cafe, the owner said he has hired a front of house and back of house crew, and the health department issued ServSafe certificates Dec. 29.

Though Ford has not owned a restaurant in the past, he made sure to bring in an experienced team.

Ja Wall, the cafe's general manager, caters weddings with his wife at Hot Springs' Mountain Magnolia Inn.

"I really feel like we're bringing more to the table than most vegetarian restaurants are, or even (other restaurants) incorporating CBD into it, too," Wall said. "It's pretty exciting. I'm really looking forward to it."

Wall previously owned Bacchus in Marshalll and helped open HomeGrown in Asheville. He planned to step away from the industry, but the cafe was too sweet a deal to pass up, he said.

"I swore when I got out of restaurants that this was it - I was going to work for myself and never again (work in restaurants)," Wall said. "(Ford) talked me out of retirement, and we're back at it again.

"But it's different this time. It's fun. We can really get behind everything we're doing - the juice, the elixirs and the whole health consciousness. It's the whole package."

Ford said the restaurant will showcase culinary talent throughout the county, including Wall, a Marshall resident.

"We're bringing a lot of the local best of the best to the table," Ford said. "We've got bakers who are coming in who have been in this area and baking for years. We're not having any trouble finding anyone, and I think it's partially because people can get behind that we're doing all organic, and really health conscious."

The cafe will offer breakfast all day, Ford said.

"Both (Wall and I) hated the idea of somebody coming in here at 11:15 a.m. and telling us they want the eggs benedict, and for us to tell them we stopped serving it at 11 a.m.," he said. "So, we're just going to make it all the time."

Ford, who has been a vegetarian since 1989, said he feels there is a clientele for vegetarian food in Madison County.

"I'm hoping that basically once people come and try the food, they'll say, 'Oh, I'm not missing anything - I can eat an egg and cheese biscuit, or I can have an egg platter or French toast, or a veggie burger and fries.' I Just think there is enough stuff where there will be something for everyone. That's the hope."

The owner said he will be handing out samples to entice customers with new offerings for their palettes, including carrot bacon slices.

Ford plans to offer samples of cannabis juice, what he called "the fire behind (the entire operation)," to customers as well.

"None of this would exist if it weren't for raw cannabis," he said. "It is the most medicinal thing I've ever experienced in my life. We're just juicing the leaves as if it were wheatgrass or kale or anything else. We're running it through a masticating juicer and making juice out of it. It is ridiculously, magically medicinal."

The owner said he feels the juice can offer both psychological and physical advantages.

"We've had friends who had rheumatoid arthritis that it got them off of medications they had been on for 15 years," he said. "People are just going to have to check it out. I'm so passionate about it, that anybody that comes in here, that's what I'm asking about: 'Do you know about raw cannabis juice, and would you like some? The first one's on me.'"

The CBD Cafe will be open Sunday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison County all vegetarian, all-organic CBD cafe to open soon