FRESH CONCEPT
At a hydroponic restaurant, the food grows on you
CENTRAL FALLS – Have you ever had a meal so delicious that you can’t help but wonder where the food came from? When you’re eating at Hydro P.U.N.C. Cafe, you’ll wonder no longer, as the greens in your sandwiches and salads are grown on-site.
The vision at Hydro P.U.N.C. Cafe on Broad Street is to make food that it is grown right before your very eyes. Opened in February, the cafe at 712 Broad St. consists of a team of scientists, entrepreneurs, and business people dedicated to preserving the planet. The P.U.N.C. in Hydro P.U.N.C. stands for “Produce Using No Chemicals.”
Owner Ameth Alzate, who lives directly above the Broad Street cafe, said that the restaurant started as a way to showcase their sustainable technology via the company IBA Global. He said the cafe initially started with a “very simple, short menu” that has since grown like the vegetables inside Hydro P.U.N.C. thanks to a positive response from customers and patrons.
“The response has been way more than we ever thought...” Alzate said. “This type of restaurant in Central Falls, it’s a prototype, and the idea is to offer it to other cities to help reduce costs.”
The produce at Hydro P.U.N.C. is grown with water and nutrients, yearround, in a state-of-the-art hydroponics facility. Growing the greens on site,
Alzate explains, helps to reduce costs that go into purchasing food and also reduces carbon emissions, as transportation is no longer required to bring the produce to the cafe.
The 800-square-foot hydroponics facility is capable of growing 42,000 plants, enough to feed 10,000 hungry patrons. On site this week, they’re growing lettuce, kale, basil, arugula, cilantro, and hot peppers.
Aiding to grow the greens are two 6,000-gallon tanks in the basement that collect rainwater and through the process of reverse osmosis removes molecules and larg-
er particles from the water. Even if Central Falls suffered through a lengthy drought, Alzate estimates that the tanks could still provide Hydro P.U.N.C. with three to four months of water for the plants.
None of this technology would be possible, Alzate says, without the assistance of Irving Backman, a 91-year-old businessman and entrepreneur who has worked in sustainability for 45 years. Alzate credits Backman as “the inspiration, the godfather, the founding source, and investor.”
Alzate said that through this cafe, they’ve utilized the Project Sprout educational program, which educates students on electricity, plumbing, nutrition, sustainability, finances, and STEM all via hydroponics. He also said they’ll
soon be partnering with a “major university” and will be one of the few non-academic entities capable of offering college credits.
Starting any business, Alzate says, is always a “scary” endeavor, but he’s fortunate to have had previous experience in the food service industry. Prior to owning Hydro P.U.N.C., Alzate owned the Japanese Cafe sushi restaurant in Massachusetts, a series of pizza places and nightclubs in the 1980s, and Jack’s Forward Fresh Eatery on East Avenue in Pawtucket.
In addition to foods that impress the taste buds, Hydro P.U.N.C. is also a feast for the eyes, as the interior is full of bright colors and wall-to-wall art – which captures history from the big bang through the Industrial Revolution to mod-
ern times – painted by artist Jay West.
Hydro P.U.N.C. offers a wide-ranging menu featuring traditional breakfast favorites such as pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, and breakfast sandwiches; lunches ranging from burritos and quesadillas to wraps and sandwiches; salads; and beverages including smoothies, sparkling fruit juices, coffee, and espresso.
The coffee, Alzate said, is grown solely for Hydro P.U.N.C. via its partner farmers in Colombia. The farmers, he explained, have endured war and displacement but are now able to get their lives and farms back on track. As the coffee is “seed-to-cup,” Alzate says there’s no middle man and thus they give back to the farmers.
Customers won’t have to dig through their pockets or sofa cushions to find change to pay for meals at Hydro P.U.N.C., as the menu is impressively inexpensive, with four pancakes with a choice of maple syrup or homemade berry glaze for only $3.99 or sandwiches – including BLT, chicken caprese, and chicken bacon ranch melt – ranging from $6.99 to $7.49.
Located at 712 Broad St., Hydro P.U.N.C. Cafe is open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, dial 401-3056776.