Pura Vida Artisan Juices is now open inside SMAC. Standing in front of the new cafe are owners Monique and Tom Poteet, employee Dave Phillips and Pura Vida owner Carolina Hammontree, from left.Signal Mountain has a new healthy option in Pura Vida Artisan Juices, which recently opened a juice bar and café inside Signal Mountain Athletic Club.
Signal resident Carolina Hammontree opened the original Pura Vida in North Chattanooga in February. The SMAC member felt the gym would be the perfect location for a second outpost, offering members the opportunity to get something healthy before or after a workout, as well as giving the entire community a new place to grab a guilt-free bite. She approached SMAC owner Monique Poteet, who wholeheartedly agreed.
“I moved some things out of the way to create a space and said ‘Go for it,'” said Poteet. “It was a no-brainer to have a business like this in the gym, and there’s nothing like this up here.”
Hammontree’s family owns an organic food business in her native Venezuela, where she developed her love of healthy eating.
Her cold-pressed juices are made fresh every two days at the North Chattanooga location, and all of the almond and coconut milk used in Pura Vida smoothies is made in-house. She explained that juice is a more effective way to consume nutrients than taking a vitamin, as it does not contain chemicals and the fiber goes directly into the stomach. The best time to drink juice to absorb the most nutrients is 30 minutes before or after a meal, said Hammontree.