Pouring on love in Brooklyn
Juice-bar biz good for nabe hit hard by virus
Former Seton Hall hoopster Robert “Stix” Mitchell knows his latest venture is no slam dunk.
And so, on a blistering July morning with temperatures soaring into the 90s, Mitchell stands on a Brownsville sidewalk offering his neighbors a taste of his brand new business: A juice bar named Thirst RX. It’s part of the Brooklyn native’s full-court press to give something back as the pandemic hits his home borough hard: 62,000 coronavirus cases, more than 7,000 deaths.
“I really wanted to do something for health and wellness of the Black community during the
COVID crisis,” he explained last week outside the storefront operation. “You get that feeling you’re doing something good in the neighborhood where you’re from.
“You’re not only making money, you’re feeding your soul and your heart.”
Mitchell, who resides just a four-minute car ride from the Brownsville shop, opened for business last week in a neighborhood often described as a “health care desert.” A 2017 report by the Citizens’ Committee for Children cited Brownsville’s dire need for both additional food retail outlets and healthy food options.
“This is a tough, tough community,” acknowledged Mitchell, who played professional basketball overseas before returning to Brooklyn. “And right now is a really important time.”
The bearded Bed-Stuy baller’s past of pick and rolls is now a present of cucumber and kale, mango and turmeric. Thirst RX offers a dozen freshlyprepared signature drinks, from the “Incredible Hulk,” with pineapple, banana, spinach and coconut milk, to the Island Smoothie, a tasty blend of peaches, mango, banana, ginger and orange juice.
“This is the bomb diggity bomb!” said local resident Jean Remarque, sampling some of Mitchell’s wares with his wife and two kids. “This is something the neighborhood needs.”
Remarque’s spouse Ty convinced their toddler son Talib to try a mango drink. The reluctant little boy flashed a big smile after his first taste.
For the similarly upbeat Mitchell, his new business is just another in a series of challenges.
Stix was a slender 6-foot-6 and 180 pounds when he arrived at Seton Hall in 2008, transferring from Duquesne and the Atlantic 10 conference into the Big East and the big time. He emerged as an unlikely starter at power forward, averaging 15 points and eight rebounds against opponents bigger in size and reputation.
But clashes with a volatile head coach landed Mitchell on the bench in his second year, with an arrest in a wrong-place-at-the-wrongtime incident in 2010 briefly landing him in jail. His conviction in a plea bargain deal was expunged earlier this year as Mitchell — ever moving forward — entered his second year as an associate with TriState Commercial Realty in Brooklyn.
His new business plan was forged in the chair of his dentist, Dr. Bobbi Peterson, who became Mitchell’s business partner. She owns the Rutland
Road building where Stix, with longtime friends Antoine Stoves and Mike Chavis, set up shop in a cramped basement just a few steps below street level.
On a recent morning, a cold press juicer sits on a table top near a shelf holding an assortment of organic ingredients: Honey, turmeric, beets, kale, peanut butter, bananas. Stoves wears a face covering as he carefully handles the prep work, slicing ginger on a cutting board as a small floor fan keeps the air moving.
The business is officially up and running after a soft opening last week. A table and two chairs are there for those who want to sit and sip, with Mitchell already applying for an outdoor seating permit that will expand the operation. Thirst RX is also offering curbside pickup and takeout during the pandemic.
And Mitchell is already dreaming of bigger things: More stores across Brooklyn. Bringing his products to hospital workers on the coronavirus front lines. Getting access to nursing home residents in need of a healthier option.
“Essentially,” he says, “we’re trying to change the world.”