Former Purdue star Drew Brees, Rose Bowl teammates bring everbowl to West Lafayette
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WEST LAFAYETTE – Former Purdue standouts Drew Brees, Ben Smith, Jason Loerzel and Kelly Kitchel all met their future spouses while attending school in West Lafayette.
That’s why it makes sense for the group to open up a business together.
Led by Brees, the foursome opened everbowl, a superfood and healthy alternative restaurant located on Vine Street in West Lafayette. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is Thursday at 1:30 p.m., and the grand opening celebration lasts until 4:30 p.m., giving fans plenty of time to tailgate before the season opener against Penn State.
Brees, who played in the NFL for 20 seasons, is expected to be in attendance until 3:30 p.m.
“He’ll be around to talk with people, shake hands and take pictures,” Kitchel said. “He’s OK signing an autograph who wants it for themselves but we’re not going to allow 10-15 items.
“We’re trying to make it a laid back event. There will be plenty of space to try an everbowl and meet Drew and head to your tailgate and cheer on the Boilers that night.”
Brees, Smith, Loerzel and Kitchel were members of the 2000 Big Ten title, which played in the Rose Bowl.
Kitchel’s wife, Brooke, will manage the store.
Question: What is everbowl?
Kelly Kitchel: everbowl is a superfood bowl and it has different types of bases (Acai, Pitaya, Coco Love, Cacao Wow, Blue Majic, Vanilla, Chewy, Matcha) and you put different types of fruits, granola and different things on top to make into a healthy meal or sack.
Q: How did this come about?
Kelly Kitchel: Drew is involved in a whole lot of stuff and Ben Smith and I have been talking quite a bit in the last year about doing something here in West Lafayette. Drew wanted to do something with us. We kicked around a few ideas and at the (Music City) bowl game, Ben, myself and my wife, Brooke, were sitting at dinner in Nashville, and he brought up the everbowl concept.
We really thought that would be good here in West Lafayette. It’s a healthy option. My wife said she would run it and we would have somebody here local to take care of it. It all fell in place. I started looking for places when we got back from Nashville and eight months later we’re open for business.
Q: Does Drew own more everbowls?
Kelly Kitchel: We’re the 56th store to open. They started in San Diego. He knew about them from living out in San Diego and he got involved a little bit at the corporate level. He’s involved in some different areas but Ben, Jason, Drew and I equally own this one in West Lafayette.
Q: What separates everbowl?
Kelly Kitchel: It’s non-dairy, it’s vegan. We cut all the fruit and everything fresh. My wife was down there cutting pineapple when I left. We go through 100’s of pounds of bananas, strawberries, pineapples and kiwi and all types of fruits every day that we’re cutting and doing fresh. We have premade bases. It’s an extremely fresh, extremely healthy type of meal that you can eat as a snack or as a meal.
Mike Carmin covers Purdue sports for the Journal & Courier and USA Today Network. Email mcarmin@gannett.com and follow on Twitter and Instagram @carmin_jc
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue's Drew Brees, teammates open everbowl to West Lafayette
