Pure Fare: Puff Daddy’s Assistant Opens Healthy Eatery

Puff Daddy’s Old Assistant Gets it Right 

Photos by Reuben Wilson

 

BY MARISSA OSWALD After spending all winter moseying past the golden PURE FARE sign on 21st St., the words “Opening Winter 2011″ remained a cruel bluff.  But a few weeks ago, I finally entered the humbly dressed cafe. To my surprise, I found the cases of prepared salads and sandwiches along the walls completely empty.

Co-owner Kunal Sehgal offered the explanation, “We’ve been selling out of our prepared foods every day since we’ve opened,” calmly reminding himself of their need to rethink their stocking plan – and fast.

Not a modicum of stress could be detected in the cozy cafe, a European-style family table snuggled between a coffee counter and breakfast/soup/cashier bar.  Although not much seating was available, the main focus is on grab-and-go dining.  Decorated by the owners themselves, one customer described the space as “very Brooklyn-esque,” which is a good observation, since the New Yorkers’ plans were to bring a little taste of the Brooklyn coffee shop scene to Philly.

With the voguish obsession and the clash of culture and food, Pure Fare’s gleaming storefront on 21st and Walnut is a material marriage of technology and organic food, while doubling as a downtown upgrade of traditional fast food joints. A refreshing change, in my mind, than the rank-and-file of healthy chains, all offering the same Caesar salad.

Pure Fare’s grub is all locally-sourced and delivered fresh from rural PA farms daily, with the exception of their unique coffee selection.  They serve up a mean cup of San Francisco’s Blue Bottle coffee, preparing it each cup in the authentic Blue Bottle drip method.  As for iced coffee, they brew Nola, a New Orleans-style chicory roasted coffee made for cold-brewing, then topped with your choice of milk or Pure Fare’s homemade almond milk.

Brother and sister founding team Kunal and Kriti have two goals: to feed people the right way by using locally-sourced foods while engaging customers through a program called My Fare, a website designed to track customer’s daily meals.

Through My Fare, customers can educate themselves on the nutritional details of each of Pure Fare’s dishes before placing an order.  And, after getting a My Fare card at their first

visit, customers can track their progress by adding their daily intake of not only Pure Fare foods, but by choosing from a database of over 500,000 foods, which Kunal aims to build upon.

With such nutritious options as the chopped kale salad (recommended by Kunal himself), quinoa muffins, and a fresh juice bar, it’s sensible for Pure Fare’s customers to stick to Pure Fare; all this, and Kunal,  a recent NYU grad, possessing no background in diet and nutrition.  With a degree in Film and Music media,  Kunal worked at a bank and as a personal assistant to none other than Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs.  Kunal’s sister, Kriti, graduated with a Health and Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and currently works at CHOP.

So how did his establishment become so accessibly health-conscience?

“Karen Pollins, Head of Nutrition at Columbia, has been working with us for the past 9 to 10 months – working to put in the right amount of calories, salt, and everything,”  said Kriti.  By providing the nutrition facts and ingredients online, there are no secrets. People have the right to know that information,”

Kriti and Kunal both aspire to be entrepreneurs, and plan on Pure Fare as being their first in a legacy of others.  On their site, they even file the 21st and Walnut streets location as “our first store.”  But even if Pure Fare were to transform into a national chain, the original concept will always remain as a joint venture between brother and sister, from the revolutionary technology down to the vintage lighting fixtures.