Meet Veronica Rademacher | Chef, Founder & Holistic Nutritionist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Veronica Rademacher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Veronica, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
As a professionally trained Houston chef, my love for food, high-quality ingredients, flavor as well as providing others (and myself) with a positive food experience, have always been very important to me. I also have a huge passion for health and fitness and proceeded to further my education as a holistic nutritionist. The thought process and inspiration behind starting my own company came out of sheer frustration for not being able to conveniently find fresh, local, balanced, tasty meals that haven’t been sitting on a store shelf for multiple days. If I couldn’t find it, I decided to create it. Leaving my profession as a restaurant chef to start my own concept was scary but the potential growth opportunity of having my own company far surpassed what I would ever achieve working under someone else in the industry.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a chef-owned and operated company, we craft balanced, delectable meals that tickle taste buds, nourish bodies, and build communities. We make everything we serve in a single kitchen here in Houston. There’s no pre-fab, pre-made, pre-frozen missed opportunities in our kitchen; just real, honest, ingredient-focused goodness. We prepare and deliver creative, seasonal meals twice a week, so you can eat well even when you’re on the move. Our meals are completely hassle-free. We’ll craft and deliver them either directly to your doorstep in a cooler, or you can pick them up from our network of convenient pick-up locations throughout the city. The biggest differenciater to sets us apart from our competitors is that when you receive your meals, they were made for you with no prior shelf life. We are going on our fifth year in business and have certainly had many hurdles to overcome and lessons to be learned. There were many trial and errors that took place, sacrifices made and uncertain situations that were very uncomfortable to be in. To overcome the many challenges we were faced with, we sought out mentorship, asked a lot of questions from people that are more knowledgeable in specific areas, documented everything that was new information to us, listened to our customers. As we continue to grow, our hope is that we not only provide a healthy food solution but also educate and inspire individuals to learn the importance of what goes in to our bodies. Even more importantly, to impact the younger generations.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would fill the week full of outdoor fun such as biking along White Oak Bayou Trail, visit breweries such as 8th Wonder, Karbach and St. Arnold, wine on the patio of Postino, cocktails on the patio at Down the Street Bar, food at my favorite restaurants like Coltivare, Local Foods and Pondicheri, brunch at Bungalow Heights and Crossfit workouts at Enspiren Fitness.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Jordan Asher, my business partner and friend of 12 years joined me in our first year of opening Vital Kitchen. He’s a very talented chef that has spent half of his life devoted to the art, craft and service of food and hospitality. In 2015, he was proclaimed by The Houston Press as one of five up and coming best chefs in Houston. Vital Kitchen wouldn’t be where it is today without his shared passion and vision for impacting lives through food.

Website: www.vitalkitchen.co
Instagram: @vitalkitchenco
Facebook: @vitalkitchenco