In a city with a storied love affair with deep dish pizza, Italian beef, and high-end steakhouses, Kasia Bednarz and Britni DeLeon saw a void at the table in terms of good-for-you, fast-casual cuisine. So, in the fall of 2018, they opened their first of several cafes that seek to redefine the intersection of health and convenience in Chicago.
“FARE is Chicago’s healthy premium food experience. So, you come here to feel good and nourish your body,” said Kasia. “Our menu is seasonal. It’s delicious. It’s nutritious. And it’s fast and accessible.”
The philosophy at FARE is paradoxical in that it is simple, yet bold: healthy food should be delicious, accessible, and tailored to a busy urban lifestyle.
FARE has four downtown Chicago locations, all in The Loop, with fresh and farm-harvested dishes for palates of all persuasions. All bowls include a base of either lemony kale, arugula or house grains, which then are topped with seasonal vegetables and a sauce, with the option of a hearty protein, for a dynamic and delicious meal. Breakfast includes a menu of inspiring selections for the professional on the move such as a healthy egg wrap or avocado toast to go with your coffee.
“Healthy doesn’t have to be a sacrifice,” said Kasia. “For such a long time, there’s been a stigma that when you’re eating healthy, it doesn’t taste good and you’re just eating for utilitarian reasons. We’re on a mission to change the way that people think about healthy food. Healthy food can and needs to be delicious. That is what we do here at FARE.”
From kitchen roots to culinary revolution
The story of FARE is rooted in the diverse culinary backgrounds of its founders, with Britni of Italian descent and Kasia of Eastern European heritage.
“There was definitely cooking. A lot of it was chore cooking. I grew up in an immigrant household where we didn’t buy anything packaged. We made everything from scratch,” described Kasia about her family experiences in the kitchen.
Britni playfully responded to her friend and business partner. “I was never helping in the kitchen. I was mostly just doing the eating.”
These two visionaries would enter the lives of each other while working for a large restaurant group in Chicago’s Gold Coast.
“I do have a business degree from DePaul,” said Kasia. “That said, I worked a full-time job during school at this restaurant group. So, my MBA was working this job. I knew that there was a bigger vision, and I knew I loved being in restaurants. So, I just tried to absorb as much as I could there.”
“We were in our early 20s at the time and spent a lot of time together at the restaurant, in private events, operations, sales and marketing,” Britni explained about how they worked together.
“Any partnership takes work. And so it’s important for us to get down to business together and also have fun together,” continued Britni with a smile talking about her friend and partner. “We find that when we spend more time having fun together and remembering why we started this in the first place, we just work better. The synergy is better. We have good energy.”
The origin of FARE germinated from a seed in the form of friendly cooking sessions and dinner parties before it sprouted into a full-blown business.
“We brought our friend groups together and started hosting small dinner parties. People really loved it,” Kasia recalled. “At that point we’re like, ‘Let’s do something more with this.’ We put together a business plan that had loads of evolutions and changes. We originally started in a food hall on Wells and Wacker in Chicago. That was our first location. Just to test it out. See what it is, and we killed it. I mean, there were lines down the block. That’s when it really felt real. We’re like, ‘There are all these people that want to pay for what we’re serving, and they love it.’”
“I think it was really the perfect storm of things, right?,” explained Britni about their start. “We were in this very formative time in our lives, learning to cook and kind of be on our own and understand what made our bodies feel good. There was also a real lack in the market at that time. There weren’t a lot of places that you could go grab something quick and healthy, and you felt like you knew what was in the dishes. We’re lucky to be in a city where, you know, it was kind of like primed and ready for that. You know, we’re the land of steak and potatoes here in the Midwest and in Chicago, and so there’s no shortage of steakhouses, but there wasn’t anywhere we wanted to grab something quick and healthy to eat.”
The path wasn’t always perfect. A very tempting business opportunity to join a glamorous food hall concept taught them a valuable lesson about staying true to their vision.
“It wasn’t our demographic. It wasn’t a lunch crowd,” Kasia explained about not taking the offer.
But turning down such an attractive opportunity reinforced for Kasia and Britni the importance of authenticity in FARE’s brand and business model.
FARE: Delicious Dining
At the heart of FARE’s success is its innovative, customizable menu.
“So at FARE you get to pick one of our basics,” Kasia explained as she dished out a bowl of goodness for this story. “Top it with two of our seasonal veggie toppers. Of course Mac and Cheese.”
“Next comes protein and one of our seasonal sauces made with wholesome ingredients,” Britni added.
“The typical FARE customer is someone looking for an elevated and approachable dining experience during their busy day,” Britni explained. “So it’s someone who’s on the go, wants to get something healthy that’s also really delicious. They don’t have a lot of time, but they still want something that’s going to nourish them, not weigh them down throughout the day.”
The formula of FARE’s success seems to play best because of the harmonious synchronicity shared by this dynamic duo. Kasia and Britni share the responsibility of food selection and recipe creation.
“That’s like our baby that we work on together. That’s what we’re super passionate about,” stated Kasia while also noting she focuses on the finances of FARE as well as HR, staffing, and operations.
Meantime, Britni takes the lead on branding, marketing and customer experience. “So anything that tells our brand story and really highlights who we are and what we stand for. “
Neither Kasia nor Britni ever attended culinary school. They consider their personal degrees in “kitchen creations” to be a stronger asset.
“We don’t think of food in this very scientific kind of way that holds all these rules and regulations around it,” said Britni. “It allows us to be creative, think about things in new ways. We don’t feel held back by combining different flavors or cuisines, and so I think it’s made FARE uniquely what it is.”
“This is very much the way that we like to eat,” described Britni about the food served at FARE. “We knew that good ingredients, if you didn’t mess with them, but you started with something really quality and highlighted what’s already wonderful about them was good enough on its own. But that requires starting with something that’s good and then using ingredients that are intentional.”
That approach enables FARE to challenge the notion that healthy food can’t be satisfying.
“We really wanted to make sure that everything was clean, but also delicious so that people understood that you could eat healthy,” Britni added. “It could also be really satisfying, nourishing, and make you feel better about the choices that you’re going to make after you have that meal.”
As female founders and entrepreneurs, Kasia and Britni take pride in growing FARE into what it is today.
”It’s unique that you would find two women restaurant owners, and so we’re proud of that,” Britni stated. “I do think that there’s been a lot of support because we’re women. We have felt supported by the community. We’ve felt supported by other women in and outside of the industry who just want to raise women up in general.”
A love of this city
Kasia and Britni are passionate and also very proud to have found success in Chicago. They understand that their business and other small businesses are critical to a thriving local economy in Illinois.
“What I’d like to tell the people of Illinois about retail is that we are the community,” said Kasia. “We are the reason that people want to move to cities, live in specific areas. These small businesses are what generate traffic and what create such a vibrant community life. We would really love the support for small businesses….Create an infrastructure for small business, create an environment where these downtown areas are more livable. These cities need that.”
“We need the support of the community in order to survive and thrive,” added Britni. “Independent retailers are what bring vibrancy and uniqueness to each different neighborhood. None of us want to see the same places in every space. We bring something that’s special and different and unique to who we are and unique to the area. And that’s what’s great about being a retailer.”
In an age when anyone can shop from home and the office or have meals delivered to their door, Kasia and Britni know they’ve created something that now has people coming through their doors for amazing meals.
“It’s hard to be a retailer,” explained Kasia about owning a business. “You need a physical space. You need to build that space out. You need to pay this rent. You have all these taxes. The support is really important because we, as communities, need small retailers.”
Give spark to others
Kasia and Britni believe in the power of community and networking to help a new retail business launch on solid footing.
“We found that our network and people sharing the news of who we are and spreading the word of what we do has been really an integral part of the growth of our business,” explained Britni about finding success.”
“The city of Chicago also has some great resources on opening businesses and it feels very overwhelming at first,” added Kasia. “You’re like, ‘Can I get the permits? Can I get this license? How do I even begin to do this?’ But I do have to say that we’ve had a really good experience in the licensing and legality portion in terms of working in the city, and they offer so many tools that you can access. So, definitely start there just to get your bearings. You want to know as much as you can before you do this.”
It’s a FARE love affair
When you walk into FARE, there is a good chance you will see Kasia or Britni at work behind the counter. Their passion for their business is palpable as is the joy on their faces as they serve up their delicious meals.
“I love being a retailer, because it means we get to be a really meaningful part of the community,” Britni beamed with a wide smile. “So, we have a slogan here. It’s called Best Food for Better Days. The idea is that you make a decision here, and it fuels your choices for the rest of the day, the week, and the month. We like to be a place that inspires people to try new things, to be surprised by what they’re eating, and that it’s as satisfying as it is delicious.”
“And hospitality is such a big part of our business,” Kasia continued. “We really try to focus on creating a different experience than other fast casual restaurants. That’s why we get so many repeat customers. Seeing these customers and seeing the joy on their face from just getting the coffee from us and chatting about their weekend, or getting their bowl and telling us they couldn’t wait to eat this all week because they eat it every Thursday, just brings so much joy, and that’s why all of this is worthwhile, welcoming people into our home. This feels like our home.”
