Hibiscus Juice Bar has Caribbean decor and limited seating. (Photo by Jen Horner)

At Hibiscus Juice Bar, which opened a few months ago at the corner of 49th and Catharine streets, owner Sarah Scandone and manager Jessica Matluck combine Caribbean flavors and healthy ingredients in a bright yellow decor. Drawing on experiences operating a juice bar in Belize, and driven by their passion for healthy foods, the longtime friends opened their shop just around the corner from where Scandone once lived.

A dozen or more blends and smoothies will please the most dedicated juice lovers. The magenta “Detox” blend of beets, celery, parsley, kale, pineapple and honeydew (small $4.29, large $5.29) is sweet with a sharp little bite. In addition to an array of vegetable, herb, and fruit choices, you can enhance your smoothie (small $3.99, large $4.99) with bee pollen, Irish Moss, and other healthy stuff. Hibiscus also sells a variety of snack breads, cookies, and cakes, baked on-site.

Savory foods include vegetarian and vegan wraps, quesadillas, salads, a few fish dishes, daily specials and soups. Everything I tried was saturated with flavor – the nutritional equivalent of sunshine. The spicy Jamaican Jerk Tofu wrap ($6.99) included chard, rice, and okra. Salads are served individually or in combination ($3.99 for one, 7.99 for two, and soon). Kale salad with nutritional yeast dressing paired with tuna salad made a crunchy, filling and satisfying lunch. Veggie quesadillas ($6.99) come with your choice of standard or vegan mozzarella cheese. If you want a small snack with your juice, try the veggie “chicken” empanada ($1.50). Most items on the menu can be prepared vegan, and if you avoid gluten, ask for rice tortillas instead of wheat.

At first glance, there are similarities between Hibiscus and Atiya Ola’s Spirit First Foods, located a half-mile east on Baltimore at 45^th street. Because of the focus on take-out, the seating is sparse at Hibiscus, while Atiya Ola’s provides table service. Hibiscus mixes a wider variety of juices on the spot, and Atyia Ola’s offers more different food choices, plus breakfast served all day. Both satisfy the growing demand for healthy, raw, and vegetarian foods in our neighborhood.

– Jen

This upcoming weekend Milk & Honey Market is throwing two holiday celebrations: a Holiday Pop-Up Shop on Sunday at their West Philly store at 45th and Baltimore and Winterfest on Saturday at their Center City location at Sister Cities Park (18th St. and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway). Annie Baum-Stein, the owner, invites her West Philly neighbors to both events.

Winterfest will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes a lot of fun holiday activities for the whole family – a Treasure Hunt, Karaoke sing-a-long with Frosty the Snowman, and holiday arts and crafts. The event will kick off with a choir performing songs of the season. Throughout the day children will enjoy Story Art, Snowflake Science, Cold Weather Creatures, and cookie decorating. This page has a full schedule.

For Sunday’s Pop-Up Shop held at 11:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. in West Philly, Milk & Honey partnered with local artist/craft team Fennec Designs (many will recognize their wares from VIX Emporium or Go West Craft Fests) who have invited their neighborhood artisan friends to participate. In addition to the pop-up gift shop, Build-Your-Own gift baskets and Cookie decorating kits will be on tap at the event.  You can purchase anything in the store for a gift basket and receive the gift packaging and a custom gift card free.

And here are some examples of locally grown or made gift items:

Urban Apiaries Honey, unusual bitters, shrubs and syrups for cocktailers, Beer Kits for Home Brewers, local artisan made kitchen accessories, art works and beeswax candles, a great assortment of cookbooks and of course lots of delicious edible gifts!

OK. Here’s a way to help neighborhood kids without getting out of your chair. Neighborhood Foods is a food growing and distribution run by kids and overseen by Urban Tree Connection. You might have seen these kids selling their produce near the 46th Street El stop or elsewhere in West Philly.

The folks from this great program have a chance to speak on a very large stage. They are among the five finalists in the TEDxManhattan Challenge. The winner gets to speak about their organization at TEDxManhattan, which this year will focus on “Changing the Way We Eat.”

Here is more about Neighborhood Foods from their entry:

“This dynamic model empowers disadvantaged youth from low-income neighborhoods to run an array of food-focused programs, from urban farming production, to value-added food product development, to distribution and retail through farm stands, farmers markets and a low-income CSA program. The result is a complete local food system that drives revitalization of high-need neighborhoods by 1) increasing access to fresh and healthy foods in designated food deserts and 2) developing a local food economy that accelerates small food businesses and retains food dollars in the immediate region.”

To vote for them, go here. To see other entrants, go here.

If you are planning to spend the rest of the week here in the ‘hood, check out the Thanksgiving weekend hours at some local stores/cafes/restaurants. We’ll be updating this list as more businesses send us their schedules. If you want your business to be included in the list, please email us at: editor@westphillylocal.com or post your hours in the comments.

Aksum Cafe (4630 Baltimore Ave)

Thursday: Closed
Friday-Sunday: Regular hours (Brunch: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Dinner: 5 – 11 p.m.)

CVS Pharmacy (43rd & Locust)

Thursday: Store: open 24 hours, Pharmacy: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dock Street Brewery (50th & Baltimore)

Thursday: Closed
Friday & Saturday: 12 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Earth Cup (45th & Pine)

Thursday & Friday: 7 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Elena’s Soul (4912 Baltimore Ave)

Thursday: Closed

Four Worlds Bakery (4634 Woodland Ave)

Thursday: 8 a.m. – noon.

Fu-Wah (47th & Baltimore)

Thursday: 9 a.m. – between 3-5 p.m.

Green Line Cafe

Wednesday: Baltimore Ave, Locust Street and Powelton Village close at 4 p.m.; Green Line at PennVet open normal hours (till 3 p.m.)
Thursday and Friday: – All shops are closed
Saturday: Baltimore Avenue 8 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.; Locust Street 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Powelton Village 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Sunday: Baltimore Avenue and Locust Street 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Powelton Village 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Mariposa Food Co-op (4824 Baltimore Ave)

Thursday: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Milk & Honey Market (45th & Baltimore)

Wednesday: 7 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Thursday: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

The Fresh Grocer (40th & Walnut)

Thursday: open 24 hours

The Gold Standard Cafe (48th & Baltimore)

Thursday: Closed
Friday & Saturday: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sunday: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Serving brunch all three days (including black Friday) from 9:30 a.m. til 2 p.m.

VIX Emporium (5009 Baltimore Ave)

Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Thursday: Closed
Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (open 1 hour earlier)
Sunday: 12 – 4 p.m.

The Clark Park Farmers’ Market (43rd & Baltimore) will be open on Wednesday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., to cater to your Thanksgiving shopping needs. Expect the following farms and products:

Quaff Meadows: Fresh vegetables and pre-order turkeys
Big Sky Bakery: Pre-order apple and pumpkin pies and fresh breads
Homestead Garden: Fresh vegetables and herbs
Frecon Farm: Fresh fruit and apple cider
Primordia: Mushrooms
Eden Garden: Pre-order cider and apples

Source: University City District

The West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub, a non-profit grocery truck that brings fresh and healthy food to Mantua, Belmont and West Powelton residents, is gathering community input that will help them create a strong, locally-owned business that serves everyone.

If you live in one of the above mentioned neighborhoods, you are encouraged to participate in the Food Hub’s Fall 2012 Community Input Survey. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and to thank you for your time and honest responses, the Food Hub will provide you with a fresh produce voucher.