Brian Bennett moved to Seattle as a result of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans five years ago. Last month he fulfilled a lifelong dream of opening his own business-Emerald City Smoothie on Queen Anne.
The store, located at 1835 Queen Anne Ave. N., held its soft opening on Nov. 11.
When Katrina hit Lakeview, La., where Bennett lived, he and his partner, Cliff Fletcher, relocated to Shreveport, La., for two months. Upon returning to Lakeview, Bennett realized he had nothing left of his home or job.
"It was time to either wait around in a FEMA trailer for years to come, or make a decision on our future," he said. So Bennett and Fletcher pondered: New York City, Seattle or Chicago?
As a teenager, Bennett had fallen for Seattle when he spent a few days in the city before embarking on a cruise to Alaska.
"I love the panoramic views, I love the culture," he said. He also appreciates that Seattleites are usually open-minded and more liberal than the majority of Louisiana.
Part of the reason Bennett opened a health-conscious shop like Emerald City Smoothie is because of his weight struggle when he was 19 and in college at the University of New Orleans. He weighed 300 pounds and over the course of two years, using Jenny Craig's weight-loss program, he reached his goal of 180 pounds. He still sticks to it 15 years later.
After losing the weight, Bennett managed a health club in Louisiana. When he first moved to Seattle, he worked at Jenny Craig and taught 15 aerobics classes per week at AllStar Fitness and Sound Mind and Body Gym.
Bennett chose to open Emerald City Smoothie to continue with his life's theme of food, body and mind. "Why not open a food industry-based business that promotes health and fitness?" he said. "And smoothies do."
According to Bennett, some of the most popular of the about 40 smoothies on the menu are Sambazon ($5.75), which has acai, cranberry, protein, strawberry, and soy milk, and Berry Berry ($5.25), which includes strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, protein and energy mix.
Since the shop's opening coincided with snowy weather and Thanksgiving, Bennett plans to have a grand opening event from Jan. 14-16 to welcome local businesses and the Queen Anne community to his shop.
If all goes well, Bennett plans to open another Emerald City Smoothie in 2012.
The store is open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. on Sunday.[[In-content Ad]]
