Troost cafe’s healthy options: Smoothies, organic tea & pizza with low-fat cheese

Nathan “Nate” James has a commercial floor cleaning company, and his wife, Tasha, has a day care center.

But they came together to open Nate & Son’s Cafe because of a passion they both share: “changing lifestyles and bringing good health.”

Nathan’s father died of a heart attack at age 47, so when he started having health problems, the family, including sons Nathan, 12, and Moses, 14, overhauled their diets.

“Little things. First we went organic, then weaning off meats,” said Tasha James. “Nate dropped 40 pounds and I dropped about 55 pounds over about six months. When I went vegan that’s when I really started losing and that’s when we decided we wanted to help others.”

Tasha’s sister-in-law, Catarina Yang, also joined Nate & Son’s Cafe, which opened in July at 5531 Troost Ave.

It offers panini and club sandwiches including a waffle panini with eggs and spinach for breakfast; smoothies with fresh strawberries, blueberries, honeydew, kiwi and other fruit; pizza with organic vegetables, low-fat cheese and no preservatives; and organic beef hot dogs with fresh grilled peppers and onions; along with organic caffeine-free teas — vanilla spice for energy and kava for stress relief.

“We use fresh ingredients. We have a local garden, a garden in Marshall, Mo., and we go to the City Market,” she said. “We just try to encourage people to eat better, think better and live better.”

It also offers free Wi-Fi and hopes to draw students from the nearby University of Missouri-Kansas City and Rockhurst University.

Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Saturday.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 8:05 AM with the headline "Troost cafe’s healthy options: Smoothies, organic tea & pizza with low-fat cheese."