356 SEPTEMBER 2019 VOGUE.COM
Is there such a thing as too much
kombucha? As I wander the
aisles of the flagship branch of Erewhon Organic
Grocer & Cafe in Hollywood, where endless
bottles of the fermented tea drink best described
as “effervescent vinegar” abound, this strikes me
as a very valid question.
Carefully curated and correspondingly costly,
Erewhon’s wares—medicinal mushroom-extract
drinks that help you achieve “mental clarity!”;
hydrogen-infused water that will “improve your
athletic performance!”—answer the sometimes
paramedical demands of its clientele, who could
be picked out of a lineup by their Yeezys and
man-buns, their toned midriffs and Outdoor
Voices togs. “It’s like Whole Foods on steroids,”
my friend Maya—a regular—whispers. Celebrities
including Dakota Johnson and Miley Cyrus fill
their carts with locally grown, organic produce;
Erewhon’s minuscule raw
organic cacao truffles
(four for $17) inspire
adulation on social
media; and this summer,
it partnered with denim
brand Agolde to launch
its new organic collection, which uses recycled yarn
and non-genetically modified, sustainably-grown,
organic cotton—a first for the supermarket, or any
supermarket, as far as I can tell. You see, Erewhon
isn’t just a one-stop shop for the gluten- and sugar-
intolerant; it has become the physical incarnation of
our cultural cascade into virtuous eating. And it’s
currently in expansion mode.
Founded by plant based–food enthusiasts Michio
Kushi and his wife, Aveline, in Boston in 1966,
Erewhon (pronounced air-wan) was a safe space
for the counterculture, which remained the case
when the Kushi family opened its first L.A. outpost
on Beverly Boulevard in 1969. After changing
hands several times, it was bought by entrepreneurs
Tony and Josephine Antoci in 2011. “The mission
was good, but the store was a little... depressing,”
Josephine tells me. As healthy eating has become
a popular-culture imperative, the Antocis have
grown Erewhon’s influence. “Shopping at Erewhon
is not just an errand now,” she says of its five
aesthetically pleasing locations. “It’s a lifestyle.”
Two more locations will open in the next
two years—one in L.A.’s trendy Silver Lake
neighborhood and the other in the San Fernando
Valley’s Studio City—which is not surprising if
you consider “ceremonial-level” purification via
White Dragon matcha powder (for $67) a viable
remedy to an increasingly oppressive political, socio-
economical, and environmental climate. Neither is
the Antocis’ future plan to possibly enter the clean-
eating capitals of San Francisco and New York.
“We’re healers,” says Jason Widener, the fit,
cheerful VP of store development at Erewhon, who
is not certified in any modality that the Western
medical community would consider curative. Still.
On a recent, clear-skied day at the just-opened
Pacific Palisades location, I am equal parts inspired
and intimidated by the heavily trafficked tonic
bar’s optimized patrons, and gladly accept one of
Widener’s more novice-friendly drinks: a mushroom
cappuccino with nutrient-rich biodynamic cacao,
reishi (a trending immune-boosting fungi), coconut
oil, and cinnamon—all-natural and, frankly,
quite tasty. As he makes the drink, a svelte blonde
woman, her wrist heavy with Cartier love bracelets,
approaches the counter. “It’s so delicious,” she
tells us of her $18 spirulina, raw-almond milk, and
barley grass–juice powder infusion. She is beaming
at me, and almost in spite of myself I find I’m
grinning back, with the beatific, possibly deluded,
expression of the saved. @
Super
Natural
A tourist destination for
wellness acolytes
flocking to Los Angeles,
Erewhon is becoming
a health-food holy
site. Naomi Fry makes
a pilg rimage.
WELLNESS
ORGANIC MATTER
MORE THAN A MARKET,
THE STORE IS A REAL-LIFE
MANIFESTATION OF THE
CLEAN-EATING LIFESTYLE.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
HENRY HARGREAVES AND
CAITLIN LEVIN.
VLIFE
