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Chicago's own vegan restaurant owner talks back...
Karyn Calabrese, vegan founder of
Karyn’s Raw Café and Karyn’s Cooked restaurants, was featured last month as our Eco-Leader. She received many wonderful questions from our web community and has provided a select number of responses. Please read on to see if your question was answered and to learn more about some of the initiatives and programs underway.
Question from Phyllis T.: Would you explain a bit about your detox classes? Are there different types for different desired results? How long does it take to go through the program and then to see results?
Karyn: The beauty of my class is that we have over 150 people coming to each session with all types of challenges and different levels of health and everyone gets results- from weight loss, to lowered blood pressure, to lowered cholesterol, to reduced insulin dependence, the list goes on. What this tell us is that there’s only one disease- A toxic body and poor assimilation of nutrients. We concentrate on 3-4 main concepts in my detox program including diet changes, acid/alkaline balance, and the supplements and therapies that aid in the process. We are happy to send a free DVD with 17 minutes of testimonials and lots of great information to anyone who provides their mailing address. We also have free information sessions twice a month if you’d like to learn more about our programs.
Question from Dan H.: Karyn, you’re such a babe. I am opening a Green Store / Coffee House and want to eventually carry your products. Would you consider your products to be green and who could I contact for future reference for distribution? Thanks.
Karyn: Yes, our products are definitely green. We make sure everything is natural and of the best quality and all of our capsules are vegan. We do offer wholesale pricing for those who want to carry our products in their stores. Please contact my assistant, Jamie, for more information at
karyninfo (at) karynraw.com or 312-255-1590.
Question from William T.: Can you talk a bit about how your food is sourced and what, if any, measures are taken to ensure food is as local as possible and as sustainable as possible? Thanks!
Karyn: Unfortunately living in the Midwest makes it a huge challenge to use local produce all the time. We would have to change our menu almost daily to remain as close to organic as we do. At this point in time we primarily use Goodness Greenness as our main distributor for organic produce. When the weather allows, we also source produce from local farmer’s markets.
Question from Lena K.: I currently in school to become a Holistic Consultant. Do you have any advice on starting a business in Holistic Wellness. This has always been a passion of mine, but I put it off to raise my children. Have you ever thought about becoming a mentor and do you offer some sort of internship in your business for those who would like a more hands on training in the field?
Karyn: At this time we don’t really have the resources to devote to an internship program but it is something we would like to incorporate in the future. We do offer lots of education through classes and programs, including free seminars, for people who want to increase their exposure to the holistic world. For someone starting their own business I would recommend a lot of planning, research and patience! Although there are many more resources today than when I started out 25 years ago, it’s still a difficult business to navigate.
Question from Jennifer M.: What do you think the pie chart would look like among your patrons if split up among omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and raw-terians?
Karyn: I would say 65% omnivores, 20% vegetarian, 10% vegan, 5% raw which makes us very happy because we are in the business of educating and trying to bring that 65% of omnivores more into the vegetarian, vegan or raw category.
Comment from Laura H.: Dear Karyn, I do not have a question but I want to tell you how much my family (kids included) and I love your restaurants and go whenever we visit Chicago. We have learned a lot about healthy eating and healthy living from your center and we and thank you for all you do.
Karyn: Thank you so much for helping to sustain the vision
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