July 6, 2022

A popular business specializing in plant-based, vegan and raw foods is expanding into a downtown cafe.

Emily Wilson started Bee Loved Kitchen in late 2019. She’d moved to Sioux Falls from Oregon with a passion for raw food and was looking for a way to bring it to Sioux Falls.

“I saw the way it changed my health from the inside out, and I just loved this lifestyle,” she said.

When she moved to Sioux Falls six years ago, “it was a struggle to find places to eat and others who are like-minded,” she said. “But once I started doing what I was passionate about, I felt I could be my most authentic self, and I started to fit in.”

She started Bee Loved right before the pandemic began, offering a five-day raw food transformation program, and “it was busy right out of the gate,” she said. “I couldn’t have imagined it would be. I knew that probably no one would want to eat cold food in the dead of winter, and I launched in the middle of a snowstorm with a five-day reset, but I had 26 people sign up.”

And then, the pandemic took hold, and her business took off even more.

“It was strangely a good thing,” she said. “I like thinking outside the box and when there’s a hurdle or problem figuring it out.”

At the time, her business revolved around cooking classes and in-home meal prep, which both came to a halt. So she “quickly threw the business online to healthy meals delivered to your home,” she said. “And it blew up. It went crazy. I really feel like that’s what helped the business gain traction and new customers and get the food out there and the word out there. We were so busy making and delivering food and all day and night.”

She has two employees who help in the kitchen and another who grows food and does social media marketing.

The business currently prepares meals sold in some grocery stores, a coffee shop and yoga studio as well as offers online ordering.

“I have juices, smoothies, raw entrees, and you have meals ready to go a few days at a time,” Wilson said. “And we are at the farmers market (at Falls Park), which has been fun to get out of the kitchen and meet people.”

Starting a cafe has been a dream, she said. She plans to open The Bee Loved Kitchen – Healing Food Cafe – in the new Steel District development next to Falls Park West.

“I love community. I love connecting with people. I love creating an experience and an environment where people can feel at home,” Wilson said. “The goal is to change the way people eat and not just provide one meal or a diet plan but change the way they connect with food and how it affects their health.”

While she’s still developing the menu, it will include breakfast and lunch and potentially fine dining dinners on weekends. Customers also will be able to get grab-and-go meals and take classes there.

“I have a lot of ideas,” she said. “We are going to introduce pastries and cooked food, tea and coffee as well as kombucha drinks, and there will be raw food, but we’ll also offer vegan cooked food. We’re looking at smoothies, cold-pressed juices, pancakes, smoothie bowls, a burger, some wraps, salads, soups and stews.”

Her cafe will open sometime next year, along with many other tenants at The Steel District.

“I’ve always been attracted to downtown no matter what city I’ve lived in,” she said. “Downtown is where I feel home, and if you look at other cities that have a vegan or raw food cafe, they’re always downtown. And with the Levitt and ice skating rink going in there, this just felt like home.”

The Bee Loved Kitchen is the first retailer to announce for the building where it will be located in The Steel District. Other restaurants from Twin Cities-based restaurateur Josh Thoma will fill the first floor of the nine-story mixed-use office building within the development, and there will be multiple restaurant spaces within the Canopy by Hilton hotel.

“This development can support a wide variety of food and beverage options, given the thousands of people who will be living, working and staying on-site,” said Raquel Blount, vice president of commercial real estate for Steel District developer Lloyd Cos.

“The Bee Loved Kitchen is such an exciting addition, not just for Steel District but our entire community. There’s a huge movement behind plant-based dining, and this is going to deliver that to Sioux Falls from a wonderful local owner.”

The Steel District has strong interest in its remaining retail space, Blount said.

“And we’re still about a year out from being able to open, so that’s very encouraging and reflects the strength of this development and the overall downtown area,” she said. “This space is a fit for everyone from apparel and accessories to specialty retail and services. It won’t be long before The Bee Loved Kitchen has plenty of company.”

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