ame:
David Proman
Where part of town do you live in?
Pinecrest. We’ve been here for one year and in Miami for ten.
Where are you originally from and what brought you to town?
Originally from Delray. Work brought us to Miami.
What do you do for a livelihood?
Investing.
But, I’d prefer to talk about your TropiKale Smoothies, because that’s what really makes me happy. We love coming to the farmer’s market and we love your smoothies.
How often do you come to the market?
Every week.
What’s your Sunday market ritual?
We wake up in the morning, get dressed, and go to the farmer’s market. We go right to LNB. I order a large TropiKale and my girls order a Rainbow and a Jackson. Then, each girl gets a pickle, and if they’re good, they get an Icee. We get a pizza, we get ribs and chicken, sometimes we get Zak’s banana bread. Can’t forget the popcorn and flowers. And then, we go to the playground and then we go home.
What family restaurants do you like?
Flannigan’s is very important. And, the Tutti Frutti ice cream next door. We love the ribs at Flannigan’s. Also, A Pizza Brooklyn.
What about for a special occasion?
No Name Chinese.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to play tennis. I like to sleep, but don’t get to do that much. I really just play with the kids a lot.
We try to be outside a lot. We’re either swimming or playing soccer or something in the backyard. We love the Wayside market. I will get an apple splash with honey, not sugar. The girls like the strawberry milkshakes.
I’m going to have to ask you about your life after this.
What’s Miami’s best kept secret?
The LNB TropiKale smoothie.
What’s a worthy splurge?
I would say a good bottle of Tequila. Maybe, Case Azul or Casa Dragones.
What’s a fun rainy-day activity?
We like to play Bingo as a family. We like to play card games and board games. Chutes and ladders. Backgammon and Connect Four.
What community or philanthropic groups do you participate in that you might like to share?
Beth Am and Nicholas Children’s.
Beth Am is our community. Our kids go to school there and we attend the synagogue. I sit on the board of the school. We spend a lot of time there.
Nicolas Children’s provides health to all children, especially underprivileged children. I think that they are very important. Being a part of that is meaningful to us.
Would you like to share a pitch about your business?
No. But, I will share a pitch that everybody in the world would be a lot happier if they woke up on Sunday mornings and got an LNB TropiKale smoothie. The world would be a more peaceful place.
What question would you like to ask us?
I want to ask you a lot of questions. What is your favorite part about Sunday at the farmer’s market?
(A+W) Talking with people, sharing stories and continuing conversations from week to week. Also, introducing people to each other is very fun. Also, giving someone a taste of something new – like a new fruit or a rainbow smoothie. It’s non-stop fun from 5am until about 5pm. The market is a special place.
What do you guys do to prepare for Sunday? Do you do Saturday also?
(A+W) Saturday market is over for the year. It only runs 11 weeks in the Winter.
During the week, Adena’s on the farm 2-3 days a week foraging for the ripest fruit. Then, we spend a couple days a week in our commercial kitchen. That’s where we prepare and package everything. We have a space over by Tamiami Airport which is halfway between home and the farm.
Do you have to go to the kitchen before you come to the farmer’s market on Sunday?
(A+W) No. We are all packed up, except for some loose ends, by Saturday night.
Are you and Adena married?
(A+W) Yes. Last month was our 5th anniversary.
Are your smoothies limited by the amount of fruit you grow?
(A+W) Yes, they are. We took Sunrise off the menu when our mangoes ran out. We freeze as much as we can fit (in our 15 chest freezers), and it sometimes lasts until the next season. Now we’re running very low on Roselle (Sorrel), so we changed our red smoothie from Flower Power to Rosanna. It seems daunting when something is running out, but we have always found a solution.
How long have you been doing this?
(A+W) We’ve been at the market for eight years. And it’s just as much fun every week. When the market first started by Gardener’s Market, Adena’s parents had a stand.
Back to you, is there anything else you are passionate about or would like to share?
I’m passionate about truth and justice. I feel that there’s a lot of injustices in the world, and a lot of people get taken advantage of because they don’t know the system. There’s a lot of bureaucracies. I need to figure out how to get more involved.
Is there a question that you would like to ask the community?
How do people survive six days a week without their smoothies?