About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2020)
Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com She (Times gainesvilletimes.com Wednesday, January 8, 2020 Smoothie transition Whole Being sprouts from Common Grounds spot in Flowery Branch BY LAYNE SALIBA lsaliba@gainesvilletimes.com It’s all familiar when you walk into what was Common Grounds on Main Street in Flowery Branch. The sounds, the smells, the ambient light. The sign on the front door isn’t as familiar, though. After selling smoothies out of Common Grounds for almost a year, Whole Being Cafe has taken over and is serving a new menu of healthy, wholesome options with some comfort food, too. “I make food for every mood,” said Gail Tomlin son, co-owner of the new cafe with her husband, Kevin. “If you need com fort food, we’ve got you. If you need something a little healthier on the cleaner side, we’ve got you.” Whole Being Cafe at Com mon Grounds is focused on healthy options, because that’s what helped Gail get to where she is in life. She was having health issues, was pre-diabetic and had high cholesterol. She had some allergies that were causing even more issues. She searched for solutions and in the process of find ing them, she became a cer tified nutritionist. “My smoothies are 100% plant based,” Gail said. “And I’ve brought in gluten- free options, vegan options, vegetarian options.” There are smoothies on the menu like the heart beat, fog lifter or octane — Gail’s favorite. “They’re all whole food,” she said. “It’s not a mix. When you order a smoothie it’s actually real food.” Fog lifter is full of hemp protein, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, spinach, pine apple, avocado, cashew, flax powder and almond milk. The other smooth ies are filled with similar ingredients. But if a smoothie isn’t your thing, there are other healthy options like a spin ach wrap, which is gluten- free and vegan-friendly and vegetable soup which is 100% vegetables. That’s why Jenna Strang and her daughter Jalyssa Campbell stopped by the cafe Tuesday, Jan. 7. They’re both vegetarian, and with not many options in the area, they wanted to try out Whole Being Cafe. “I saw on Facebook they had switched it over, so we decided to come for lunch,” Strang said. “I’d never been here before.” Being from New York, she said there were a good bit of healthy options around them. When they moved to Flowery Branch a year ago, they couldn’t find a reliable place. “We missed having a healthy, cafe-style place,” Strang said. It seems like they’ve found it now. “This is a great place to come,” Campbell said. “It’s right down the road.” But if your diet isn’t restricted, there are some choices on the menu for you, too. “I really wanted to do a blend,” Gail said. Gail’s daughter, Mad eline Robertson, makes the chicken salad using her own recipe and Kevin makes macaroni and cheese that’s a work of his own with smoked gouda and bacon. And of course, they still have all the coffee options you’d want to go with your breakfast. They’re serving a gravy biscuit, frittata or breakfast burrito and all of it is made in-house, even the but termilk biscuits Gail can’t eat because of her wheat allergy. Whether she eats them or not, she’s making them for her customers. And as people came in and out of the cafe Tuesday, she greeted each one of them or thanked them for stopping by- “We want it to be homey, downtown and when you come in I want to know your name, I want to talk to you like I’ve known you forever and I want you to feel that comfort when you’re in here,” Gail said. And with all the new res taurants and development Above: Gail Tomlinson, center, and daughter Madeline Robertson, left, speak to customer Alice Byrne at Tomlinson’s new cafe, Whole Being Cafe, in Flowery Branch Tuesday, Jan. 7. Left: Tomlinson pours a smoothie into a cup at Whole Being Cafe. Photos by LAYNE SALIBA I The Times coming to Flowery Branch, Gail is optimistic about what Whole Being will become. “I think it will be great,” she said of the cafe’s future. “We’re very encouraged. I’m hoping it’s going to be a good thing for everybody, and whatever businesses they bring across the street ...I think it’s going to be awesome.” Even with the renovating of their own inside the cafe, there’s still a familiar feel ing when you walk in. And if you don’t feel it the first time you walk in, you’re sure to feel it the next. “We’ve always loved cof feehouses,” Gail said. “We love the atmosphere of it... We want it to be where you walk through the door, if we don’t know your name, we’re going to know your name and you’re going to feel like you’re home.” Whole Being Cafe has taken over what was Common Grounds in Flowery Branch. The new cafe has healthy options, including power smoothies, along with a few comfort food options. Some odds, ends and California wines worth the search Following is a collection of odds ‘n’ ends left over from 2019. Translation: Things I put off getting around to for a variety of reasons. Procrastination shows up at or close to No. 1. Everybody loves Ramey David Ramey has been getting a lot of ink (or whatever internet cov erage is called) in recent months. And that attention is well earned. A veteran California wine maker Ramey has dropped a quartet of stellar chardonnays on the wine world, and the resultant splash has spread far and wide. All four bottles come from the aforementioned Sonoma County (I so prefer it to Napa) and all four cel ebrate the terroir and climate of the four different locations. And while they differ one from another in mouth feel, aroma and flavor, each is a genuine winner, and well worth searching for. All are from the 2016 vintage and are priced around $70. They are: Hyde Vineyard, Carneros, from the land near the north end of San Francisco Bay shared by Napa and Sonoma. Fruit came from fully mature vines at least 20 years old. The wine was aged 20 months in new French oak. This wine placed No. 7 in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines of 2019, a singular honor for Ramey and his winemaking skill. RANDALL MURRAY murrwine@aol.com We shared a bottle with friends and it was simply elegant. Rochioli Vineyard, Russian River Valley, has been a prime source of quality chardonnay for decades. The 2016 edition is Ramey’s sec ond vintage from this acclaimed location. Woolsey Road Vineyard, Rus sian River Valley, has produced Ramey’s fifth bottling from that location, owned by the pioneer wine-making Martinelli family. Ramey, however, directed the planting specifications for this vineyard. Ritchie Vineyard, Russian River Valley, derives interesting flavors from the volcanic soils. These are old vines, planted in the 1970s, which provide crisp, yet delicate, tastes and aromas. While there are many flabby, overly fruited chardonnays on the market, this fearsome foursome shows how great this wine can be. And if cranking out four superb chardonnays wasn’t quite enough for Ramey, he just released an impressive Rhone-style syrah from Sonoma County’s Petaluma Gap region. As is done in the Rhone, Ramey co-fermented his syrah fruit with 8% viognier, a white grape, which knocks off some of syrah’s rough edges. Price: About $70. From the archives Around mid-20191 encountered an interesting little wine that I meant to mention at the time. But good intentions tend to vanish into the ether. While cleaning out my internationally known rat’s nest of ancient paperwork last month, I uncovered the information about Bodegas Castillo de Monjardin Chardonnay Unoaked Single Vine yard from the 2018 vintage. It’s a wonder they can get that whole tangled title onto one label. It comes from vineyards of northern Spain. And though Spain is not a hotbed of chardonnay pro duction, this crisp, dry white is a real treasure — especially at a $14 price point. There’s no oaky-vanilla aspect to distract from the wonderful expression of chardonnay fruit. I remember (a phrase I don’t often use) enjoying this chard with a sea food chowder during the summer and relishing how they matched. Another Spanish treat Finally, also from Spain, I cel ebrate a pair of lovely sparkling wines that livened up our holi day festivities. The bottles are as attractive as the wines are fun to drink. These are cavas, a word that means the wines are made in the traditional Champagne method with a second fermentation in the bottle. That results in the sparkle and fizz that make such bubblies the life of the party. The Vilarnau Rose Delicat Brut Reserva not only looks great, it tastes great, too. It’s made with a blend of garnacha and pinot noir, with the two red grapes lending the light salmon tinge to the wine. Well chilled this sparkler is a regal party pleaser. Price: About $18. Its little sister, Vilarnau Brut Reserva, is made from a blend of traditional Spanish grapes — macabeo, paralleda and xarel lo. While these are not approved Champagne grapes, the wine compares nicely with lighter bub blies from that revered region of France. Great party wine, terrific food wine. Price: About $16. Randall Murray is a Gainesville- area resident. Have a question about wine? He can be contacted at murrwine@aol.com. His column publishes monthly. WINE OF THE MONTH The Federalist Zinfandel Dry Creek 2016 The wine: Full-bodied, dry red table wine. The grapes: 100% zinfandel. The source: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California. The verdict: I love zinfandels. And Dry Creek Valley is one of my beloved places in California. I have directed that my ashes be spread there. Note: I take no responsibility for subsequent crop failures. This is a big red with rich dark fruit flavors and a splash of black pepper. Fruit came from six separate vineyard blocks and each block was fermented separately. Malolactic fermentation was induced to soften the acidity, and the wine aged 16 months in 20% new oak barrels. The result is a hearty wine that demands hearty fare — sizzling ribeye steaks, standing rib roast, lamb chops, venison, etc. This goes into my Top 10 Zin List for 2019. The price: About $19.
