Dietary trends are “cool” for some, necessary for others. There are many different trends that have popped up in recent years, such as veganism, plant-based diets, and gluten-free. All of …
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Dietary trends are “cool” for some, necessary for others. There are many different trends that have popped up in recent years, such as veganism, plant-based diets, and gluten-free. All of these are important, but the latter is directly related to a food allergy and is becoming akin to the nut-free allergy. Gluten-free is not a trend.
Gluten-free and gluten-friendly are not the same thing. For those with gluten sensitivity, it is still possible to order from a restaurant that is gluten-friendly, but for those with severe allergies, gluten-free is necessary to avoid getting sick.
One of the owners of Rhody Roots, Cassandra Brimmer, is gluten-free. She needed a safe place to eat and didn’t want to eat salad all the time. “I was tired of going out to dinner and the only thing on the menu for me to eat was salad,” she said. She went on to talk about a horrible experience she had while on vacation. “I drove around for two hours trying to find a place where I could eat; finally, I gave up, went into a grocery store, and grabbed an apple,” she shared, despairingly.
With limited places to eat in Rhode Island that were gluten-free, she decided to create one for herself — and her community, offering a family-friendly space where everyone is welcome.
“It’s like one big sensory room,” commented Brimmer on the larger dining space at Rhody Roots — a restaurant she and her husband, Luis Cruz, began together in 2019. She went on to say, “My vision was to have a family-friendly place where people can come and feel comfortable — feel free to wear yoga pants and bring the kids.”
Her own child has been a huge part of the business since day one, collecting and cutting up images from comic books with his grandmother. As part of the vision for the brick-and-mortar, these images were sealed into the bar top.
Age 13, her son can often be found sitting at the bar chatting with the staff as if they are part of the family. Brimmer shared, “He is always here with us; he is like our little mascot. He sits, eats, and chats with staff like they are his family.”
The roots begin to grow
Rhody Roots began as a fork in the road, both literally and figuratively. Both Brimmer and her husband were not happy at their jobs — both working for someone else. Brimmer wanted flexibility so she could be there for her son more often. “I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and I wanted the career,” she acknowledged.
With that thought and a vision of a food truck, she came to her husband with one short and simple question: ‘Do you want to quit?’ Brimmer asked her husband of his full-time job as a chef in 2017.
“He wasn’t happy,” she explained when discussing his job. ‘Could we both be happy?’ she asked him inquisitively in a follow-up question.
The food truck was started in 2017. It was originally named Fork in the Road, but there was a slight problem with that name. At their very first event, another food truck attended that had the same exact name as theirs. After a lot of brainstorming, thinking about the farms they used for local produce and how Brimmer felt rooted to Rhode Island, Rhody Roots was the name they settled on for the food truck — which is now a brick-and-mortar restaurant. “I am from here, but I had been out of state for a bit. So when I came back, I felt like I was home; I felt rooted here,” Brimmer explained.
While gluten-free is central to the menu, Rhody Roots caters to a variety of dietary needs, including vegan, peanut-free, dairy-free, and plant-based options. Brimmer’s family faces their own dietary challenges — she is gluten-free, her husband is dairy-free, and he can’t eat seafood — so creating a restaurant that could accommodate a wide range of needs was a natural extension of their lifestyle. “At home, we were already eating this way,” she said.
For Rhody Roots server Liam Hankinson, the community spirit is what stands out. “It’s all about conversation and good food,” he said. “Talking about the food helps us understand the customers’ diets and allergies,” he detailed. He described the atmosphere as “homely,” noting that the staff truly gets to know the guests.
As guests leave, the last thing they see is a plaque above the exit sign that reads, “Memories made in Warren last a lifetime,” a subtle reminder of the staff’s hope that they’re glad they came.