Way out in the Big Island Hawai’i countryside, on a rural Kohala sidewalk in Hawi, I laugh a soft chuckle, maybe even mumble a word or two out loud, a familiar refrain for country bumpkins, lost again. I missed the sign ten feet back or so, stumbling right by Roots Alchemy Café. After a clumsy u-turn, I saunter into the alley way.

Sidewalk to Roots Alchemy — In our North Kohala village more than a few ono (delicious) places to eat are discovered on a sidewalk stroll.

One wizard puppet hangs on a string by polished wood picnic tables, yet the outdoor café resembles Diagon Alley from Harry Potter in few other ways. Even so, owner Daniel Walsh exclaims that the liquid elixirs (cure-alls) he concocts emanate from his Irish culture, his self-perception as part druid (priest or magician in Celtic religion), part medicine man infused alchemist—a person who transforms routine food items into extraordinary ones by seeming magic. “I picture myself as making elixirs to boost health rather than what makes us sick,” Walsh exclaims.

As a kombucha expert, Walsh makes high volumes of the fermented elixir, liquid that has probiotics to cultivate a stomach’s healthy capacity to thrive, which, in turn, influences the rest of the human body; if you drink mucho green tea, as one vivid example, toenail fungus can clear. Turns out, the phrase you are what you drink and eat is not a cliché.

And how I ate at Roots Alchemy Café, a cozy restaurant, two tables strong. As the go-to vegetarian/vegan spot in Kohala, the menu offers ono remakes of carnivore faves. Take the Tempeh Reuben that drips savory goodness as thousand island dressing and turmeric kraut soak the tempeh (fermented soy) layerings that pillow in the ciabatta roll. Melted Havarti cheese seals the deal. Lettuce grown at Ka Mala Wai Aquaponics in Hawi by Drew and Erin Henderson built the side-salad. Sprinkled on the lettuce are raw carrot slices, plus pumpkin and sunflower seeds, which I drizzle with the red vinegar and avocado oil.

Tempeh Reuben with a Maquina Verde smoothie complete the filling lunch.

Walsh and his business partner Angi Mayfield mix store bought with locally grown best they can. For example, they purchase organic sauerkraut then infuse with turmeric, grown at Aina Culture farm in Kapaau by Anthony and Anita Palazzolo; the sauerkraut and turmeric marinate for one week for optimal fermenting health benefits.

Do Aloha Fridays justify over-eating? The roll is a yes on this day, so I also order the Maquina Verde smoothie, that has a silky texture, chewy, too, as one mango chunk arrives, and everything soaks together: spirulina, moringa, kale, pineapple, parsley, cacao, and hemp seeds. The two items for one lunch fill enough to skip dinner since nutrient dense food lasts in the stomach biome.

If food gifts health, like medicine often prolongs life, then Roots Alchemy Café medicinal edibles conduit health and flavor for food as “medicine.” The café delivers on this promise through chocolate medicinals, salads, empanadas, smoothies, and myriad shots of all kinds of liquid elixirs designed for specific health boosting; word to the wise that kombucha does have 0.5 alcohol content from fermenting.

Business endeavors are always tricky, so when March 2019 arrived, the Covid pandemic regulations mandated restaurant closures in Kohala. Yet as the human immune system is essential to health, and Roots Alchemy Café only sells cuisine to boost health, the business was deemed “essential,” and thus allowed to stay open. One stroll down the Hawi sidewalk brings you to the a-frame sign leading the way in.

Roots Alchemy Café hours: Mon 11 to 4, Tues & Wed closed, Thurs / Fri / Saturday 11 to 4, Sunday 11 to 3.

Angi Mayfield and customer — Angi Mayfield talks story with a customer over Blue Algae Kombucha.