All in Health and Wellness
Greedi Vegan, a striking plant-based restaurant in Crown Heights, is actually the second business for Latisha Daring. For 10 years she operated Pieces (the legendary Prospect Heights boutique known for one-of-kind statement dresses and accessories) before soaring rent priced her out in 2010. But with a strong vision and belief in endless possibilities, the BK-born-and-raised Daring opened her new venture eight weeks ago.
Our dining-out philosophy trends toward: “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.” (Extra fries, please.) At Brooklyn Blend, a Bed-Stuy juice bar serving healthy sandwiches, salads, shakes and smoothies — which are also some of the neighborhood’s most fire provisions — we don’t have to choose.
Ife, owner of the boutique gym The Fit In Bed Stuy, has little patience for fitness marketing. “Fitness tends to look one way, and it is the very opposite of me,” says the 35-year-old, mohawked East New York native. “The marketing generally doesn’t reflect the diversity of people who are actually working out. So I wanted to create a space where everyone can feel accepted, included and like they fit in as they are.”
Sol Sips, a vegan restaurant in Bushwick, has only been open for a few weeks, but it is by far Black-Owned Brooklyn’s most requested spot. The BOB Massive (plus your moms, cousins and basketball teams) rushed to tell us about Francesca Chaney, Sol Sip’s incredibly self-possessed 22-year-old owner, and her mission to make healthy, plant-based food accessible to all. Going viral has drawn visitors from as far as D.C., Atlanta and Oakland.
Before opening Ommmango Wellness, her acupuncture and massage therapy studio in Fort Greene, Gina Pierre had already gone through a few transitions. She’d had a career in modern and West African dance.
Natalie Cosby, owner of Stacked Yoga, recalls being approached by a guy on the street one summer. “Girl, I can get you fit; I can help you get that right,” he said, gesticulating at her curvy figure. The Louisville, Ky. native smiled. “Okay, cool,” she replied sweetly. “But it is right. And I’m a yoga teacher.”
Christa Lynch was feeling stressed recently. The founder and chef of Brooklyn Braised, a farm-to-table meal delivery service, vented to her husband about the endless demands of her new company. “He was like, ‘Do you wanna quit?’” she recalls, incredulous.
