their first home, marriage, and starting their own business all in one year. When I think back on that year it makes me think of Johnny Cash's song Jackson, "We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout," because these two have been sprouting hot new endeavors at every beat. |
| GreenMan Juice Bar & Bistro |
Several years ago my sister-in-law, Rachel and her husband, Jeremy Brockway began their whirlwind of adventures. After meeting each other in March 2005, this rockin' young couple took on purchasing
When they started GreenMan Juice Bar & Bistro, in June 2007, little did they know what a landmine they had created. Initially, the two knew they were taking a huge risk, both had a vast knowledge and experience working in the food business, but trying to calculate if this risk would be successful, can truly only be told by time. And for them, fortunately that time came a lot sooner than they ever could have estimated. Upon taking on this venture, they made the decision that they would both stay working in their other jobs, while they waited to see how their dream would pan out. In the first days, they saw the unimaginable happen, people were coming back two and three times in the same day, mind you they are only open for breakfast and lunch. This is pretty unheard of in the restaurant business, so needless to say, after the first two weeks Jeremy left his other job. And a month later realizing how wearing working 18 hours can be, Rachel with the encouragement of her boss, Shawn, owner of Confucius, who she describes as, "the best boss and mentor I could ask for," left her previous job, and put all her efforts into GreenMan (also I must add Confucius is another wonderful restaurant that I highly recommend). Not only did their initial risk to start the business, pay off, but so did the decision to let go, and not let the worry about income consume their dream. GreenMan has been movin' and shakin' juices and food ever since.
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| Dean napping at GreenMan during his first Sea Witch Festival |
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| Rockin' Juices at Firefly |
Rachel- Jeremy and I came up with the idea for GreenMan kind of organically (ha!ha!)! We were tossing around a lot of restaurant concepts before GreenMan came into being. We wrote mission statements and menus for everything from a Polynesian restaurant to a farm-to-table supper club before we came around to the idea for a juice bar. Ultimately, we created a restaurant that reflected our own interests. Jeremy was juicing for years before we met and the food menu and I have been vegetarian for almost 20 years now. Too often, in our experience (and this is still true today!), if a place appealed to Jeremy's palate there would only be the obligatory roasted vegetable sandwich for me (yuck!) and most "vegetarian" restaurants didn't do much for either of us. So we created the kind of place we always hope to find, with a juice bar and a menu filled with tasty whole food options, a lot of which just happened to be vegetarian.
Q- What made you decide to be a vendor at Firefly this year?
Rachel- We decided to apply to be vendors at Firefly on a whim. After you and I joked about how Jeremy would never go to a festival if he wasn't working it, I started giving the idea some thought. I approached Jeremy about the possibility and, to my surprise, he loved the idea. When I applied I thought it was a long shot. I was very surprised when Red Frog Events called me and asked us to participate.
Q- Prior to taking on Firefly, GreenMan landed some rave reviews in USA Today, first in an article entitled "Best Boardwalk for food across the USA" and the other, "Firefly festival grabs corporate America's attention," did this add to the pressure of the weekend, or help with knowing that GreenMan is no longer a well-kept secret to the locals?
Rachel- No newspaper article could have added more pressure to the weekend...nothing can put more pressure on us than we do ourselves! The USA Today recognition is really nice and quite an honor, but I don't think it affected Firefly weekend. And we haven't thought that GreenMan was a local's secret for years...we don't see many local faces during the summer season, actually. But we do have summer locals who come back year after year and, in some cases, day after day during their vacation.
Q- Does GreenMan have plans to do more festival venues in the future?
Rachel- Other than returning to Firefly next year, we don't have any immediate plans to do more festivals. The travel required would be difficult with out two small children and the busy restaurant, but in the future, who knows? It would be amazing to take GreenMan to Lollapalooza!
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| Strawberries waiting to be juiced at Firefly |
Rachel- Hahaha! Honestly, I came up with the names for Firefly the same way I come up with all names...I sit at the computer with a glass of wine and brainstorm. If it makes me giggle or Jeremy roll his eyes, its a keeper!
Q- GreenMan has already agreed to vend at next year's Firefly Music Festival, what can GreenMan fans anticipate next year? GreenMan regulars are well-accustomed to your famous Crème Brulee French Toast, Quiche of the Day (my personal favorite being the Artichoke & Parm), Eco-chic, The Great Tomato (another personal fave), Happy Buddha, The Bellydancer, Naked Hippie sandwiches, as well as, wheat grass shots and smoothies. Can we expect any of these to make an appearance on the menu next year? (*Please, please say you are going to have The Curious George from your kid's menu...I think it would pair well with a Healthy Elvis?)
Rachel- I'm not totally sure what we are going to bring to Firefly next year, but I have to tell you that it won't be anything from our kitchen menu. We are definitely going to be juicing again and hopefully we will make smoothies, as well. Other possibilities are herbal iced teas, wheatgrass shots, or maybe even bubble tea! The drinks will keep us plenty busy, though...sorry that there won't be any Curious George!
Q- We know that Elijah Wood (well-known for his role as Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings) and Adrian Grenier (from Entourage) both came to Firefly this year, did you have the privilege of sharing a juice with them or any other musician in attendance? It is important to note that GreenMan is a veteran when it comes to serving celebs including legendary musician, Dave Grohl, who stopped into GreenMan with his family, while vacationing in the Rehoboth Beach area, and Black Thought from Jimmy Fallon's house band the Roots.
Rachel- We did not see any celebrities at the juice bar, but several times over the weekend we were approached by someone "from backstage" asking to purchase a juice out of the back of the tent. We never found out who was drinking them, though.
Q- What are your hours at the restaurant this summer? Do you have plans for a second location any time soon?
Rachel- Our summer hours are Wednesday through Monday, 8 am- 4 pm, closed on Tuesdays. A second location is a real possibility. It's just a matter of finding the right space, at the right price and the right time.
As freshman vendors to Firefly, Rachel and Jeremy embraced the adventure and the education of what it takes to serve the masses at a festival of this size. They may not have felt right at home this year, because when you take on a beast of this size, there are some kinks to work out and lessons to learn. But having said that, they took time to let the music move their souls and enjoy other parts of the festival as well. Jeremy took time and checked out the arcade with cousin, Carly Callahan (who regularly works at GreenMan's Rehoboth location and worked their Firefly tent), and enjoyed some skeeball. Aside from enjoying the acts that played on the Lawn stage in front of them and catching part of Tom Petty's set themselves, Rachel and Jeremy also allowed their staff to take time out now and again and enjoy some of the musical sets by many of the other artists that rocked this year's festival.
So stay tuned in as their adventures continue, check out and enjoy their delicious menu of juices, smoothies and food at the Rehoboth Beach location in the meantime, and get your tickets so you can enjoy their rockin' juice at next year's Firefly!
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| 2013 GreenMan Firefly Staff |
(*Photos courtesy of GreenMan Juice Bar & Bistro's facebook page and myself. Special shout out to Scott Goss for helping gather the GreenMan staff for this photo op @ Firefly*)
(*Special thanks to GiGi and Poppa, as well as, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Tom for keeping all of our children entertained, well-fed and cared for the weekend of Firefly! You guys rock!*)
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