By Cory Cole
As St. Petersburg changes, so does The Cider Press Café, one of its local vegan restaurants that originally specialized in all raw food. But if you’ve never visited, or haven’t been back in some time, then you may not know it started serving cooked dishes.
Cider Press, 601 Central Ave., has become known for its vegan cuisine. Roland Strobel knew only serving raw food was a niche-within-a-niche. Yet he and his partner, Johan Everstijn, still moved forward and opened the restaurant.
The first Cider Press opened in 2013, in Naples, Florida. Strobel and Everstijn later closed that location in 2016 and dedicated all their time to the St. Petersburg location, which opened in August 2015.
Continuing to serve raw vegan cuisine in the growing food and art culture within St. Petersburg has helped drive business.
But two years ago, on a cold day in January 2017, Everstijn decided to make his vegan gumbo, Cider Press’s first cooked dish.
“He made a gumbo and it sold like hotcakes,” Strobel said about his partner.
From that point on, more cooked options started being introduced into the menu, such as the “Buffalo Blue Cheez Chick’n Sandwich,” “The Burg Cheez Steak,” and the “Kale-Lemon Me Softly Burger.”
One issue the owners faced was that the more food cooked, the smokier the restaurant became. The cooked food was initially prepared on George Foreman grills and in crock pots because the restaurant was not designed for cooked food.
It wasn’t until November 2018 when Cider Press had its hood vent installed. This officially converted the establishment to properly prepare and serve cooked vegan options.
Only a third of the menu still consists of raw vegan options — options which Strobel said will remain on the menu because they still have popularity and hold value to the restaurant. Strobel describes the rest of the menu as “vegan comfort food.”
Strobel and Everstijn, partners in business and life, did not grow up on a vegan diet. Just like many of their first-time customers, they had never thought of eating raw vegan. It was their four-legged canine friend who helped the idea come to fruition.
“It was the dog food scare of 2005; animals are dying, all of a sudden our little dog is lying in a corner, yet nothing’s changed in his environment,” Strobel said.
This got Everstijn to try cooking fresh meals in hopes that it would bring life back into their furry friend. Within 20 minutes, Strobel and Everstijn could see a positive change within their dog. He regained energy, and within a few weeks, he was back to normal.
“Dogs don’t know the placebo effect,” Strobel said.
Afterward, Strobel and Everstijn noticed how food affected their dog in negative and positive ways. So, they decided to change their diets. Everstijn discovered the raw vegan detox diet and they tried it out.
“The fountain of youth is not some elusive spring somewhere,” Strobel said. “It’s eating raw vegan food.”
Though preparing raw vegan food is not easy, Everstijn and Strobel felt amazing after the detox stage of their diet. During their time as raw vegans, Everstijn began to develop his raw culinary skills.
He was trained in Chicago by a raw vegan chef and began making lunches for his neighbors. Everstijn challenged himself to never create the same dish twice. As he mastered his craft, he received a job as an instructor for Matthew Kenney, a celebrity chef, entrepreneur, author, and educator who specializes in plant-based cuisine.
During Thanksgiving 2011, Strobel and Everstijn booked a vacation to visit Everstijn’s mother, who lived in Naples. Shortly after they arrived, Everstijn’s mother died of cancer, which she had been battling for years. Since they had already booked the vacation, Everstijn and Strobel extended their stay.
They knew Naples was an older and wealthy community, with many of the residents focused on health and the longevity of life. They decided that Naples was the right place place to introduce and open their raw vegan restaurant.
What they did not know was that Naples is strongly influenced by seasonal visitors.
Nate Bohn, general manager and executive chef, and Christina Barbara, sous chef, are two of the influencers who helped create the Cider Press’s comfort food menu.
Everstijn no longer spends all his time in the kitchen day to day. He has instead become more of an influencer, helping set specials and keep the restaurant up to date with food trends. He does much of this with Bohn.
“The burgers are good, the lettuce, tomato, it’s all so fresh,” said customer Charlie Izzo. He typically orders the classic burger when visiting. Since he’s a vegetarian, this option just makes dining easy for him.
But how do non-vegans react to the restaurant?
According to Bohn and other employees, they cannot recall a time when someone had a bad experience with their food. But Bohn did remember a time when an older couple came in, and after they finished eating, the wife turned and told her husband he just ate a vegan burger.
Though for those who are vegans, or not, the Cider Press Café might just be a place to stop by or revisit.
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday for lunch and dinner, with brunch and dinner available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. For more information, visit the Cider Press Café’s website at http://ciderpresscafe.com/.
The food and service was great.