‘The Squeeze’ Ready To Open Next Week in Fredericton
FREDERICTON—The wait to try Fredericton’s newest restaurant is over. The Squeeze is set to open on Monday, August 8.
The salad, smoothie, and juice bar was founded by Fredericton locals Erica Whitman, Sonya Solven, and Jessa Allison. The idea came after the trio realized there was nowhere in the city to get all these items at the same time.
“There [are] so many places in the city that you can get parts of what we’re offering – there’s great coffee, there [are] great smoothies, some places have great salads … there [are] a lot of wonderful options in the city,” said Whitman. “But there just isn’t really a salad, smoothie, and juice bar.”
Even before they officially opened, the three founders have received feedback from the public saying Fredericton needs a place like this.
“It’s been nice to see everybody else’s excitement as well,” said Solven.
The Women Behind The Squeeze
Whitman is a registered massage therapist and owner of Adica Wellness Clinic. She is also a yoga instructor and has been in the health and wellness industry for more than 17 years.
“Focusing on a healthy lifestyle … has always been really important to me,” said Whitman.
Allison has a background in the restaurant industry but also studied holistic nutrition. She worked at Adica as a holistic nutritionist, where she and Whitman became friends and led to the connection with Solven and the development of The Squeeze.
Allison said while working as a holistic nutritionist she built nutrition plans with people. Part of those plans was making salads that were exciting to eat. Because of this experience, she has good foundational knowledge to build a menu people will enjoy.
Solven owned Considerate Property Management with her husband but recently sold it last year and decided to change things up. She has always been a foodie and her husband is business-oriented. After they sold Considerate Property Management, they needed something else to do, which was when The Squeeze was born.
Solven and Whitman have been friends for 16 years and are the co-owners of The Squeeze, alongside their husbands.
All Things Food and Drink
Whitman said there are a lot of great restaurants that offer “a little bit of all the stuff” they wanted to bring to Fredericton. But, there is not a place offering it all. With Allison being a holistic nutritionist, they had the perfect person to create a restaurant menu that focused on nutrition.
All three have different nutritional diets, as Whitman is a pescatarian, Allison is a vegetarian, and Solven is an omnivore. With this in mind, their menu will offer meat, vegan, and gluten-free options.
“We just really wanted to make a place that everyone could eat at,” said Whitman.
Not only will the restaurant have a variety of salads, smoothies, and juices, but it will also serve breakfast.
Customers can stop in for a bagel, smoothie bowl, or breakfast bowl that comes on a base of potatoes and can be made vegan with tofu scramble or with bacon and egg for people who are not looking to veganize it. Breakfast sandwiches will also be available and can be made vegan with locally made Scottage Cheeze products.
Scottage Cheeze will also make vegan caesar and dill pickle salad dressings for the restaurant. Caffeinated beverages like cappuccinos, lattes, and espresso shots will also be served. For this, they partnered with a new local coffee business, Phantom Roasters, to create a specialty blend for The Squeeze.
Solven said collaborating with other local companies for The Squeeze was important.
Their fresh juices are named after them as well, including their daughters.
Whitman hopes people will come in and give The Squeeze a shot, even if it is not their top choice of restaurants. Both their husbands are not the target customer for this restaurant, but now Whitman says they are pumped for the restaurant and love the menu items.
Whitman said customers might just think of a salad as a garden salad with Italian dressing on it, but that is not what The Squeeze is aiming to serve. She wants customers to try the menu because they might be surprised that healthy eating can be fun and delicious.
Jessica Saulnier is a summer intern for Huddle. Send her your story tips: [email protected]