Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Henry.
Hi Heidi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO HEALTHY EATING is our motto in a region of the country where veggies are fried, BBQ, and Meat & Three are the staple eateries.
Harvest Kitchen opened up in July 2021 as I identified the desperate need for a clean eating concept restaurant. As I guided our family (which includes a Type 1 diabetic son) through the pandemic, we started eating cleaner to help boost our immune systems. Eating at home was not an issue but when we went out to eat, we had very limited options. My daughter (and now manager of HK) would make dressings/marinades for our salads and grain bowls and we would say “dang girl, this is fantastic…you need to open a restaurant!”
As a businesswoman, I deeply believe in the concept of “don’t wait for an opportunity, create it”. The pieces quickly started falling together to create an allergy-friendly, clean-eating, minimally processed, counter-service restaurant. I have been a Celiac for almost 2 decades so it was of utmost importance to me that we create a 100% Gluten Free kitchen. There are few places that I have ever visited where I can eat everything on the menu. We are also mostly dairy-free and take allergies very seriously.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As many restaurants were closing their doors, we believed in the vision strong enough to open a much needed restaurant. Needless to say, the challenges to keeping our doors open are numerous in today’s climate. Food and supply prices are soaring and labor costs are on the rise. We have had to do a price increase since we opened and we are going to have to do a second price increase to keep up with the continual price increases that keep hitting us. We refuse to sacrifice quality so the only solution is to do as small of increases as possible.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
As a Nurse who has Celiac disease, I felt strongly that it was the right time to open a health-conscious restaurant. We offer Salad/Grain Bowls & Smoothie Bowls with minimally processed ingredients. We are allergy-friendly, 100% Gluten Free, and mostly dairy free. All our dressings and marinades are made in-house and our ingredients are freshly prepped daily. Our proteins are grilled to order. We’ve had a tremendous response to our healthy eatery concept and the quality and taste of what we offer.
I conceptualized Harvest Kitchen when I struggled to find a clean eating eatery that specialized in food allergies. I had visited other open kitchen concepts but I never found one that had an open grill where guests could watch their bowls not just being plated, but prepared and grilled as well. We want any individual with a specific diet to come and be able to create a meal that they can eat. Allergy-ridden individuals many times have to opt-out of eating out. We want to change that!
I am the businesswoman and my daughter is the culinary mastermind and we have been blown away by the niche our little restaurant is playing in people’s health journeys! We have guests that are fighting cancer and it’s imperative that they ‘eat clean’; those who have food allergies that restrict them from eating out, but we customize and create a meal they are able to enjoy; guests on a weight loss journey to better their health. The list goes on and on…
What’s next?
There are so many unknowns as we navigate these unprecedented times. We feel very blessed that the surrounding communities have embraced us so strongly and are requesting for us to grow into their individual communities. For now, we are proud to be a destination location as we are located adjacent to the beautiful Greer City Park. We have a pet-friendly patio that overlooks the park.
We believe strongly in collaboration with like-minded businesses for the good of the whole so we partner with local health & wellness businesses. We have a Lunch & Learn every 2nd Tuesday of the month with our neighbor, Pure Wellness Spa. We offer a healthy lunch while the guests learn about a different health/wellness topic each month.
We are a pick-up location for a local farm as well as for a microgreen grower. We hosted our inaugural Health & Wellness Market with local vendors this June and plan for a second one this Fall.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greerharvestkitchen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harvestkitchen112/
Image Credits
Handful & Hustle
