A Blooming New Restaurant
About a five minute read.
January 1st is the day of New Year's Resolutions. If you are like the majority of people who create a resolution, you begin with wanting to lose all that weight you might have gained during the 2020 pandemic. With the all new Bloom Eatery opening in Richmond, you can fulfill your resolution.
Matt and Brandy Jarboe are the proud owners of the Bloom Vegan restaurant, located on the northside of Center Street in Logan with the purpose of bringing plant based food options to Cache Valley. The Jarboes purchased the existing restaurant near the end of 2021. The purpose for the purchase was for Brandy to eat somewhere that could accommodate her dairy allergy.
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"It was the only vegan restaurant in town,” says Brandy in a phone interview. “We bought it and rebranded.”
They had the idea of expanding from their current location, as their downtown location doesn’t give them much space to work with, and access to only two parking spots on the road.
“We were toying with the idea of opening a bigger location or a second location. We were limited on space where we currently are. The opportunity came up in Richmond, and we are taking a chance that we will have a good of a response as we do in Logan.”
“I grew up in a small town where ‘Healthy’ is a 4-letter word.” says Matt who grew up on a farm in Kentucky. “Healthy can be tasty! Healthy can be fun! When we saw the opportunity, we thought ‘Sure. Let's bring healthy to this small town.’ If someone wants to go have a cheeseburger, they can, and I will probably be there to join them. But for those who want a cost effective, healthy alternative, here it is for them.”
SoulFull Café opened their healthy mind and soul location in Richmond in 2022. Unfortunately, they had to close their doors about 9 months after opening. The Jarboes originally were trying to purchase equipment from the owners of SoulFull. They fell in love with the building and the potential of the new location, and purchased the building from SoulFull in Dec of 2022.
“We speak to the owners of SoulFull Café frequently because they are big fans of our Downtown location in Logan.” Says Brandy. “The mental health aspect and everything that they were focusing on was definitely something we had a connection with. We are hoping to collaborate on some things about our new location. They are not going to disappear, they will be behind the scenes of the store.”
Their mission to bring vegan based healthy food to those who need/want it has nothing to do with how large the city is, but how many individuals they can serve at a time in a single location. In Logan, they serve the areas from North Logan to Nibley. In Richmond, they are able to serve from Smithfield to Preston, ID. Richmond is one of the last places anyone would think of opening a restaurant.
“It's a big leap of faith, for sure.” Says Brandy. “Some mornings I wake up and think that I am crazy for trying to open a new restaurant. Our focus is more on providing that service of healthy food than how large the city we are selling in. If people are looking for it, they will come. We have people from Preston coming to our Downtown location because that is the closest alternative.”
As stated previously, the reason for the restaurants was for Brandy who has a dairy allergy. “We’ve met a lot of people along the way who have similar things. They have a gluten allergy, or a dairy allergy and they are just grateful that they can go somewhere that doesn't sell the same exact thing. About 99% of everything on our menu can be gluten free and dairy free. We are happy to bring this option to the northern part of the valley because everyone deserves to feel the way they do about any situation they are in.”
“A lot of people get politicized with food or with their stance on food. We just want people to enjoy good, tasty food!” Says Matt. “I work in a Blue Collar environment. One day, I brought some lunch to the guys and they all said how good and tasty it was. Their expressions would change when we would tell them it was all vegan. People think that vegan food is gross or nasty. If you ever have one of our bowls, you’ll find out they are pretty good.”
The building they will be opening inside is the old Interurban depot. The Interurban Depot was an electric trolley station with a track that ran from Preston, ID to Ogden, UT. It was built in 1915 by the Ogden, Logan, and Idaho (OL&I) Railroad, which was owned by the David Eccles family with James I. Kirby from Hyde Park as the station agent. The station was helpful in traveling students from the north ends of the valley to School at North Cache, and also for individuals to run to Logan and even Ogden to see family and run errands.
Due to the stock market crash in 1929 that led into the Great Depression, the trolley system took a hard hit and service toward the railroads and cars were very limited. Because of the difficult traveling conditions, the trolleys received the nickname of the "Galloping Goose." This condition continued until 1946 when the Utah Idaho Central Railroad, the owner company, filed for bankruptcy. The last trolley to travel from Preston to Ogden was on February 15, 1947.
Since that time, the depot has been owned and operated by many different people and businesses. Such as a laundry and dry cleaning service, a barbershop, a home, and most recently SoulFull Café. The Depot was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. According to the National Register - Utah Division of State History website, “The National Register of Historic Places is the official federal list of properties that are significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, or engineering."
From the Train Depot to Bloom Eatery, it seems that the location was designed specifically to serve the north side of Cache Valley. Matt and Brandy are excited to open their new location in Richmond. The exact date of the opening was not stated in our interview, but when they open, there will be plenty of individuals to support and love Bloom Eatery.
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