Ethos Vegan Kitchen Has a Winning Recipe!

Some restaurants have great food and some have great atmosphere, but VERY few have both. Today I discovered Ethos Vegan Kitchen, a neighborhood charm in across the street from Gaston Edwards Park in Orlando. Well, I didn't exactly "discover" it by accident, I found it after I did a search for vegetarian-friendly outdoor dining in Orlando. Ethos had some of the highest online ratings on various restaurant search engines such as my VegOut iPhone app where they hold a Five Star rating with 56 reviews! On Urbanspoon 90% of 372 people like it! According to Ethos customers, owners Laina and Kelly Shockley know how to please!

From the online photos and the view from the road, I wasn't so sure about the restaurant. But as soon as I stepped inside, I felt at home in this inviting atmosphere. The warm yellow and red tones on the walls are accented with brick and wood. The floors are partial tile and partial rough concrete. It works very well for this down-to-earth locally-owned restaurant. The lighting is just right--not too high or low. And the music is a mix of sensual tunes like Midnight In A Perfect World by DJ Shadow and Brown Skin Lady on Black Star, an album assembled by emcees Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

While I was in line, a talkative birthday girl celebrating her 40th randomly introduced herself to me. I told her it was my first time to this restaurant and she raved about the food telling me that everything on the menu is fantastic. She was talking among lots of her yogi friends in line telling them all about the fabulous food.

It was quick and easy to place an order. You order at the front register and then they bring the food to your table. The two tables near the front windows are great seating with a view of the park and lake. It's also a nice spot to sit if you're waiting for a friend to arrive before you place your order. The front windows are bright and beautiful in the daytime! And if you're inside, you can access free WiFi.

Near the back of the restaurant, there's a great area with not only tables, but also a couch and some chairs. It's a comfortable place to congregate and that's just where the 40th birthday girl was schmoozing with her friends.

No business is complete without local art! If the number of pieces were a measure of their commitment to local artists, then I would say that Ethos is very committed to the well-being of the local community--not only in providing tasteful vegan delights, but also in supporting local artists. In fact, when I asked about the art, one of the employees told me that they recently had an art show put together by their resident artist, Scott White.

"Resident artist?"

How many businesses can boast of their resident artist?

Apparently Scott recently coordinated an art show displaying collaborative art among local artists. How much more can one restaurant help create camaraderie among local artists and customers? Check out this creative concoction between Scott White and El Shanebo. Priced at only $60, this piece is sure to be adopted by a customer very soon! I like how they used both images and words in this work entitled "Go Robot."  Learn more about Scott at his website GhostsOfScottWhite.

After you've had a chance to check out some local art, be sure to check out the scenery. If you're near the front of the restaurant either inside or out, you can look across the street and through the park to see the lake. I saved the best for last. Not only can you get great healthy food here, but you can also sit outside and enjoy the your meal in a covered area. Rain or shine you can enjoy the fresh air, well at least as fresh as it can be alongside a street with occasional cars going by. And you can also enjoy the green plants in the eating area.

 

But that's not all that's right about this restaurant. They have three restrooms with signs on the door that say "bathroom." That makes so much sense! Other less efficient restaurants can learn from this. If the ladies room is locked at Chipotle or another restaurant where they label the doors "men" and "women," I often use the men's room because it's not an efficient use of any woman's time to wait for the women's room if the men's room is free! Yet so many obedient female customers do just this--they wait and wait and wait, and don't never complain to management! If you want to learn more about my restroom philosophy, check out my "Gotta Go" video on YouTube:

When I was planning my trip to Orlando, I thought about contacting owners Kelly or Laina in advance to see if I could interview them, but I didn't want my first experience to be swayed by people who have a vested interest in the business. I'm not even sure if they were in the restaurant for the majority of my time here, but I'm pretty sure they weren't there most of the time because I didn't see anyone who looked like them walking around the restaurant. 

That's even more points for this successful business--for their willingness to show their faces on the About page on their website and one more point for the fact that the customer experience is fabulous whether they're here or not.! I saw lots of happy customers coming and going and I didn't notice even one complaint or go-back! All the staff was friendly and you can learn more about them on the same About page. It's clear that the owners value their employees.

At most restaurants I have to search for ways to say more positive things than negative, but the opposite is true here. If I were to offer a few suggestions for improvement and potential for increasing profitability, here's what I'd say in order of priority: 

• Collaborate with a sustainable local greenscaper to improve the outdoor seating area by adding an enveloping, rejuvenating greenspace, perhaps even including some edibles.
• Offer consulting services to other locally owned healthful restaurants in Florida. You obviously have a tremendous scope of talents that other like-minded restaurant owners need.
• Open a second Ethos closer to a place with higher foot traffic, like St. Augustine please : )
• Set a goal to continuously increase your 50% organic food to higher percentages over time.
• Add more character and context to your restroom. When people are sitting around or standing in place for a minute or two, you have time to give them a message. Don't lose this opportunity.
• As it got dark, the track lighting on the ceiling felt a bit harsh--replace purple/redish bulbs with something less harsh. It distorted the color of the artwork after sunset. 
• Add free WiFi to the outdoor seating area.

Next time you're in Orlando, I highly recommend that you stop by here for at least one meal. I'm sure I'll be coming back!

Go for Green Hair in a Sunlit Chair

How can you tell if your hair salon is green and the staff cares about the health of their employees, their customers and their community?

Here are just a few things you can look for next time you head to the salon:

Management Commitment

The owner is committed to creating a sustainable and healthful business. Lisa Thomas, Owner of Verde Eco-Salon, believes in providing a safe, nontoxic, environment for her customers.


From the time you step in the door, you can see that she has designed her salon using repurposed furnishings. Check out the beautiful antique wood pieces that she uses for storage near the reception desk. And this is just the beginning!

Safe Products

If you have your hair colored every four to six weeks, it's important to know what your body might be absorbing through your skin and lungs. Next time you're at the salon, ask about the products that are being massaged into your scalp. Ask for the brand names and then look them up on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website to check on their safety rating. You might be surprised at what you discover.

At Verde Eco-Salon, they're using Organic Colour Systems, a paraben-free, ammonia-free, formaldehyde-free, thioglycolate-free, cruelty-free, organic, environmentally friendly, fair trade product. I'm very pleased to do business with a company like this, even if it's indirectly.

In case you aren't familiar with the effects of ingredients that may be in your hair products, check out some of the recent and potentially fatal health concerns linked to formaldehyde.

When a business chooses to use or sell a product from another company, they're supporting their supplier's principles and ingredients. They're partnering with the beliefs and values of their suppliers. That's why health-conscious customers who have their hair done here at Verde Eco-Salon are more likely to head to Whole Foods or Native Sun instead of Food Lion on their way home. They want to do business with companies who screen their suppliers.

Media, Music & More

Over the years, I've been to a lot of salons that had TVs, but you won't find this distraction at Verde Eco-Salon. It's just one more thing I like about the atmosphere. TVs discourage conversation and it's impossible to find shows that all your employees and customers will like.

Verde plays nice music and it's at just the right volume for holding a conversation with your stylist. To me, it's most important that my stylist gives me the right cut & color, but after that, conversation is equally important. I like my stylist here at Verde. We never run out of things to talk about.

Several years ago, I stopped going to a very experienced professional who did a great job on my hair. I didn't stop going because of what he did to my hair. I stopped going because of what he did to my ears! He did all the talking and never cared to ask about what was going on in my life. He was too concerned about telling me stories about how great he was to his family and friends. But based on how he treated me, I wasn't so convinced about his mercies toward people when he was off the clock.

At Verde, they offer some basic hair magazines, which makes good sense for a salon. The magazines are displayed on a beautiful ShabbyChic-like magazine side table between two chairs with hair dryers. I noticed other magazines appropriate for a sustainable business like Renovation Style. On this particular day at the salon, I also noticed that they had magazines that don't necessarily support healthful living. It's a small detail perhaps, but something they might want to think about as subscription renewals come up or as they're cleaning up at the end of each day.

Sustainable Local Art

MacTruque pieces have been displayed in Verde Eco-Salon ever since I started going there. I thoroughly enjoy seeing his art when I'm there. The mix of color, texture and sheen pops off the sky blue-grey walls in the salon.

But today I learned even one more good thing about these round pieces. They're painted on old tabletops that might otherwise have ended up in a dumpster! What a great way to repurpose these rounds that were formally used in a restaurant!

You can find more of MacTruque's fantastic pieces at Avondale Artworks or Stellars Gallery.

MacTruque says his dad used to let him draw on the walls in their house. And now his art can hang on the walls of homes and businesses anywhere in the world!

It's especially nice that Verde has chosen to support a local artist. Selling local art at a salon is a win-win-win partnership. Artists get more local exposure; stylists get to see some variety in the art on the wall, and customers have the opportunity to browse as if they're in a gallery and the option to buy if they just can resist.

Interior Design

In Verde, all the stylists have doors to their stations, but the doors are always wide open. Doors re-purposed from a prior life are just part of the chic uniqueness of this one-of-a-kind salon in Jacksonville. The doors serve as separators between the stations.

Open carts on wheels display the tools of the trade: hair dryers, brushes and clips. It's all out in the open, and I like this. I never did like seeing a stylist pull a brush from a drawer that also stored their lunch container or a water-stained hair magazine dated several years back.

But what I like best about this salon is the fact that it smells fresh and clean, unlike many salons where the odor of strong products gives me a headache.

Because they planned well and installed a washer and dryer in the back, they wash their towels and capes on-site. This helps reduce the cost and save energy they would otherwise incur if they sent their stuff out to be washed at some off-site location. It's a good business practice since the stylists have time to manage loads between customers.

Natural Light

So few businesses take advantage of natural light, but it's especially advantageous in a salon where customers might want to check on hair color or highlights under natural light--our beloved Florida sunshine!

Verde Eco-Salon has taken advantage of their large windows draping them with light translucent window treatments. They invite the sunshine to come inside to cheer up everyone inside.

Here I am with Jessica Gould, a great stylist from New York. She loves sunshine and butterflies. Verde offers up the sunshine, but they don't have a butterfly garden yet.

The further back you go in the salon, the more you'll notice that they also have other electric-dependent lighting. But don't look up for too long. It's a dated drop-down ceiling that would probably look better if it were removed to reveal whatever might be above it. Lots of businesses achieve a great industrial look by exposing and painting all the stuff that's up on their ceiling.

Customer Experience

Next door to Verde Eco-Salon there's a cafe with tables on the sidewalk. I sure would like to go to a salon that offered outdoor seating. If you know of a licensed outdoor salon, or one that at has a courtyard or some type of outdoor space, please leave a comment with the name and location. I'd love to check it out!

For more ideas on how to help your salon go green, check out GoGreenSalon, a Toronto-based association dedicated to helping salons & spas join the green movement.

The next time you go to your salon, look around and pay attention to what's really going on. Give it the sniff test. If it doesn't pass, then start asking questions about what they're doing to continuously improve their services. If they aren't sure what you're talking about, you might want to start shopping around for another salon.

But do me a favor on your way out: encourage them to contact me at www.DrLorraine.net so I can help them begin their journey toward a safer, more eco-friendly salon.

A few small changes each week or month add up to big improvements over time! I'm committed to green hair, are you?

Eat Every Opinion With Respect

Today I had the chance to stop by a Fresh & Easy store in Las Vegas. I'm the type of person who always reads the "writing on the wall." My eye is naturally drawn to the written word, especially when it has been edited by a comedian.


What might a designer do to avoid this issue in the future?

• Put the writing on the wall much higher
• Paint the sentences on the wall instead of using glue-on letters
• Be prepared to handle repairs immediately as needed
  

Personally, I think writing on a wall is a super design idea not only for Fresh & Easy, but for any business. So don't avoid it, just look for better ways to get the font on the plaster. It's a great way to display company values or to send subliminal messages to all the readers who enter the space.

I wonder if the company who sold them the letters provided installment instructions or suggestions for optimal use?

Go any other ideas about writing on the wall? Leave your comment here. I believe in eating every opinion with respect.

Shapiro Uses Beeswax to Create Green Art

Have you heard of encaustic painting? Me neither, until today when I had the opportunity to meet encaustic artist, Rebecca Shapiro, at her studio in Portland, OR. Unlike entering the studio of an artist who works with oil paints, the studio of an artist who works with beeswax smells refreshing and delightful. The melted wax is a form of artistic aromatherapy.

Here's what Rebecca has to say about her art:

Influenced by a childhood in the Pacific Northwest, I strive for sustainable practices in my studio and earth friendly materials in my mediums. I have always embraced a green heart and am currently exploring what it means to be a sustainable artist seeking kinship between art, nature and the human experience. I hope my art will help us all remember the interconnectedness of life.

A few years ago, I switched to encaustic because it is a more earth friendly choice for me. There is very little waste and I don't have to wash anything down the sink when I rinse my brushes. There is also a satisfying unity between the plants that inspire me, the bees that pollinate them and the beeswax. Each layer of wax allows me to be innovative, building my subject with glorious textures and ethereal depth. Sometimes, forty to fifty layers of wax are fused in a piece to abstract the essence of a plant. This sensuous medium gives me the freedom to express my love for the wild braid of colors, lines and forms in plants.

As being green and sustainable practices are being implemented in business, I would like to see businesses take their commitment a step further by purchasing/leasing art from artists who share the similar philosophies about being green. I would like to see a new breed of art patron emerge, that of the eco-art collector. These are people and organizations who use their dollars and support artists and their art who are considering their materials, studio practices and personal philosophy and in some cases, even their subject matter.

So, just what is sustainable fine art? In a nutshell, sustainable means to be made from renewable resources without depleting future resources, something that can continue indefinitely. If you look back through time, art certainly does that. Look at the paintings of Lascaux, DaVinci or Picasso. These works can be defined as sustainable because so far, they have continued indefinitely and we want to do everything to conserve them.

But now, things have changed. Sustainable fine art can’t just mean that you’ve created an image worthy of preservation. Sustainable fine art means that you, as an artist, must consider your materials, your studio practices and your personal philosophy. It means that you, as an art collector, use your dollars to support sustainable art and create a new breed known as the eco-art collector.

No, what I’m talking about is digging deeper into what sustainability means and apply art to the cradle to cradle concept. Cradle to cradle asks us to transform the way we make things – the way we make art. When a product returns to its industry at the end of a useful life and its materials are used to make valuable new products that do not return to the landfill, this is sustainable.

Why not design products so safe they don’t need regulation? Imagine a relationship between artist and eco-art collector where the artwork is returned, reworked and reinvented at the end of its life. Imagine a painting that has served its purpose, tossed on your garden for composting which feeds plants that are used to create pigments for future use.

There is amazing fine art out there made from recycled and reclaimed materials. But what about the fine artist like me that uses paints, pencils, inks, charcoals, pastels, paper, adhesives, varnishes, photography, etc? I might be green in my beliefs, studio practices and imagery but what if my medium isn’t sustainable? How can I create art but make choices that leave little or no impact? I don’t have all the answers but it’s worth having a conversation and exploring.

If you're looking for beautiful botanical art, check out Shapiro's work. Her pieces are ideal conversation-starters in locations such as:

• flower shops
• natural food stores
• aromatherapy shops
• green spas
• anyplace that sells honey or bee products
• green art galleries
• businesses located near bee farms
• organic or healthful restaurants
• botanical garden shops
• natural museum stores

If you have more ideas about where encaustic art might be featured, or you have something else you'd like to say, please leave a comment and add to the buzz about encaustic art! It's safe art without the sting of toxins.