Introducing: The Black Cherry

Nicola Williams is living her dream, following the opening of The Black Cherry in Millwater, on Boxing Day.

Nicola traded her career in the corporate world to run her own juice bar and kitchen because she is fascinated by nutrition; how food benefits and also affects people.

Nicola follows the 80/20 guideline, which suggests if you eat well for 80 percent of the time, treats are fine. “Healthy eating is about what you do every day, not once in a while,” she says.

As well as an extensive blackboard menu of smoothies and juices, The Black Cherry offers a large selection of gluten-free and/or dairy-free food, including salads, pizzas and lasagne/pastas. Most of the desserts are gluten and/or dairy-free including the cheesecakes. Nicola wanted to ensure the menus were healthy, nutritionally dense products – they were put together with the help of nutritionist Anna Hansen, who writes for Oh Baby magazine.

Both Nicola and her daughter Caris, who works in the business part-time, prefer their food natural and as unprocessed as possible, which flows into the business as a lot of The Black Cherry’s food is organic.

“We keep away from chemically loaded food or drinks – we prefer food made by the earth, not made in a factory,” Nicola says. “It’s a shame that ‘organic’ is used as a label, rather than foods being labelled ‘non-organic’.”

With its location opposite Silverdale and Kingsway schools in mind, Nicola has plans to introduce affordable ($5) healthy school lunch packs when term one commences. She hopes to run nutrition workshops in the near future. The Black Cherry is also sponsoring the Kids Dash in the Get Moving Festival.

Nicola says owning her own business means far more of an emotional investment. “It really is my baby, and I care about every detail,” she says. “It’s been an awesome ride so far – we’ve learned lots and have a lot more ahead to learn and do.”