Looking to Eat Healthy During the Holidays? Vital Kitchen Can Help
If, in the past 11 months, you've over-indulged (because reasons) and are looking to resume more healthful habits (especially after ... or even during holiday binge season), Vital Kitchen may be able to get you back on track.
Owned and operated by Veronica Rademacher and Jordan Asher, Vital Kitchen churns out pre-made meals designed for food-savvy and health-conscious Houstonians.
Rademacher, a chef who has worked at Ibiza Food and Wine Bar in Houston and The High Lonesome Ranch in Colorado, was inspired to start Vital Kitchen around 2015 while working long hours at a more recent stop, Brasserie 19, where she was executive chef. The stress and long hours began to take a toll on her mental, physical, and emotional health. Meanwhile, in exploring food delivery services in the Houston market, she became frustrated, because the majority of extant options mass-produced their items ahead of time with poor quality.
"I knew that I wanted a platform to positively impact lives; offer nutrient-dense, high-quality meals to people; cook the type of food that I loved; and share both my food and nutrition knowledge with people," says Rademacher. "It's a deep-rooted passion to educate and inspire others to learn more about what they're putting in their body and what 'healthy' actually means, especially for the younger generations."
After leaving Brasserie 19, she joined forces with Jordan Asher, former executive chef at Ritual and chef de cuisine at the late Mark's American Cuisine, to launch Vital Kitchen.
Rademacher and Asher aim to offer the freshest possible products. Though they offer a limited selection of pre-made grab-and-go stock at partnering pick-up locations (which include Nourish and Nekter Juice Bar), Rademacher says those items ironically sell out completely almost daily, so customers are still receiving food that has not lingered on the shelf.
Everything made by Vital Kitchen is free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugars, and the menu changes bi-weekly, revolving around seasonal ingredients. Recent house favorites include turkey and veggie lasagna with almond ricotta and chocolate-beet brownie bites. Those who wish to take it lightly on Thanksgiving, without sacrificing flavor, should also check out Vital Kitchen’s Turkey Day options, which include pumpkin-chipotle hummus and green bean casserole.
Like many service establishments, Vital Kitchen has had to alter its model during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure maximal safety. Juice bars, not gyms, make up most of their pick-up locations, and residential delivery is somewhat limited. Not diminishing anytime soon, however, is the passion demonstrated by Rademacher, Asher, and their dedicated staff for selling food that pleases the palate and benefits the body and mind.
