Hunters Roots is a delightful eatery filled with fresh juices, exotic tea blends, Superfood salads, tasty smoothies and yummy treats. We’re so excited to welcome owners Kerry and Jeffrey to our Twosixmag community.

Kerry & Jeff, can you tell us a little about Hunters’ Roots

Hunters’ Roots is our own small wholefoods cafe where you will see us making cold-pressed juices, superfood smoothies, and all round fresh and delicious breakfasts and lunches inspired by our Asian background

Why did you start Hunters’ Roots?

We have always had an immense interest in eating well and cooking nourishing and nutritious meals for ourselves at home. Living right in the heart of Melbourne CBD has its perks but finding wholesome fresh salads when eating out weren’t really one of them. Hence that was how the idea of Hunters’ Roots began.

If Hunters’ Roots were a person how would you describe them?

Unpretentious, comforting, inviting, a positive glass-half-full kind of person.

What attracted you to the healthy food industry?

Jeff comes from a health and fitness background having worked as a personal trainer, Kerry had a history of an autoimmune illness and it ran in the family so eating healthily to nourish the body from the inside out has been an important part of both our daily lives for a while now.

Has health always been important to you? 

We both come from homes with a very traditional way of Chinese cooking, using lots of herbal broths and ingredients to adjust the yin and yang of the body on a daily and seasonal basis. Although we have been through different stages such as eating crap food like many typical uni students, or just eating boiled broccoli thinking we were super healthy! We find it’s very important to find a good balance of eating healthy and enjoying things in moderation.

What does a day at the Hunters’ Roots office look like?

A day at Hunters’ Roots would probably begin nice and early with a green juice to get us started on a right note. Then we will begin prepping our breakfasts and once that’s done we start preparing for lunch service. Throughout the morning we will probably have a smoothie or something quick to eat whilst it’s quiet. After our lunch rush we need to order our supplies, organise our paperwork and check emails. After cleaning and closing up the shop, we usually head off to the gym or yoga if we are disciplined enough, then home for dinner and usually some more emails. It’s pretty full on at the moment in the early stages of Hunters’ Roots but there’s never a dull moment!

Do you believe we are as a whole, starting to take notice of our health? What changes have you noticed? Definitely!

It’s great that there are more healthy eating options on restaurant menus and at supermarkets, and most people these days are familiar with ingredients like chia and quinoa and wouldn’t find it scary to try cooking something themselves incorporating these items.

Do you think social media is the key to getting a healthy message out there?

Social media is fantastic for spreading healthy messages because it is so easily accessible, and we can all keep ourselves motivated with relatable ‘”regular” people body transformations, fitness tips and recipe ideas. But also because anyone can go online and post things, it’s important to seek professional advice and find what works for each of us as an individual

What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Respect and love your body, you will only be as young as 16 once!

Without sounding cliché, what have you found to be the biggest or greatest challenge when starting your own business?

Having a great business idea is a good start, but it is with hard work, organisational and business skills, and not being afraid to seek help when we need that will sustain and grow our business in the long term. There are still many things for us to learn!

When do you feel most balanced?

Taking care of our body with exercise and nourishing foods, laughing with family and friends and taking the time to enjoy the simple things in life

Can you share with our readers your favourite go-to recipe? A simple, quick yet totally nutritious dinner we love is to stir fry some leftover brown rice (or whatever grains you have is fine, but we like to use overnight rice as it gives the most fluffy texture when stir fried) with a whole heap of veggies that we can find in our fridge. Add in a smashed garlic clove and small knob of ginger, a splash of tamari and sesame oil, top with some egg (omit if vegan), sesame seeds and shredded nori, and voila!! So simple, it’s perfect 🙂

We feel it’s extremely important to support local industry. As a growing business, what are some of the simple ways people can get behind businesses like Hunters’ Roots?

We always try to collaborate with other local businesses through events, workshops and markets, so check out what is upcoming on social media, or drop in store for a chat with owners and friendly staff who are always happy to suggest fun things to try!

What’s your current favourite Smoothie combo?

Our Nutbush City smoothie is pretty darn tasty with our house made almond milk and almond butter, vegan coconut ice cream, banana, brazil nuts, and cinnamon

What do you want your customers to feel when they enter Hunters Roots?

Cosy, comfortable and like they have never left home for work!

What are the plans for the future of Hunters’ Roots?

Hopefully Hunters’ Roots can grow to become not only a place to share a love of wellness through food, but also synonymous with a wellness in lifestyle and total wellbeing. But we are happy to take things a day at a time!

Where can we get our hands on some delicious Hunters’ Roots goodies? And what sorts of goodies can our readers find at the café?

At the moment, only exclusively at our Hunters’ Roots cafe will you be able to get your hands on our juices; smoothies; treats like raw caramel slices, bliss balls with flavours like spiced gingerbread or pistachio white mulberry; and fresh salads such as black rice with tofu, edamame, shiitake mushrooms, radish, snow pea shoots and a ginger tamari dressing

Lastly, Do you have a life philosophy or favourite quote?

Do what you love, love what you do.

 

W: www.huntersroots.com

F: @huntersroots

I: @huntersroots

E:

26 Katherine Place (corner 517 Flinders Lane) Melbourne 3000

 

Head over to People + Profiles to get to know the real Kerry and read her 26 things!