Sanctuary Holistic Kitchen in Georgetown offers allergen-free ready-made meals, healthy cooking classes and pharmacy skin care products and supplements.
“We're an herbal dispensary with an allergy-free kitchen and a space for education on healthy living,” owner Robin Cervantes explains. “It's a safe place, a sanctuary. I think the reason people keep coming here is because they feel nourished — through the classes, the food, the herbs.”
Cervantes is a Certified Integrative Health Counselor with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is certified by the American Association of Drug-Free Therapy Practitioners.
“There's a great purpose to what we do here, and that's to really enrich the health of the entire community, whether they buy something from us or teach us how to do it themselves,” she said. “Either way, you're making an impact on the community.”
Cervantes' business has grown significantly over the years. She started Sanctuary Holistic Kitchen at the Wolf Ranch Farmers Market in 2015. She opened her first storefront in 2018 and moved to her current location in March 2020.
“When I first started, no one knew what I was doing,” she says, “but as new people move into Georgetown and the demographics change, I think health is becoming more of a focus for people.”
As an integrative health specialist, she said she helps shoppers by considering how their nutritional needs impact their health.
“We can suggest nutritious foods. […] “We also suggest supplements that can help with various ailments or support specific health goals,” Cervantes says. “I always like to start with the food element because everyone eats for nutrition, and that gives me a great starting point to introduce some of the other products we have here that people might not think to ask for, like tinctures or syrups.”
Even though the store will sell products, she said the goal of the business is to teach people how to make their own food and supplies.
“We sell a ton of bone broth, but we also teach people how to make bone broth,” she said. “We think these are essential skills and essential health supplements. If it's not working for you, there's no reason you should have to buy our elderberry syrup for $24 a bottle.”
Classes offered
Sanctuary Holistic Kitchen offers a variety of hands-on classes for adults, teens, and children.
“I've always wanted to add an educational component to my business,” Cervantes said.
Upcoming courses include:
- Healthy, quick family dinners and meal prep on June 5 at 6:30 p.m.
- Kids Cooking Show Camp (ages 6 to 13) June 11th to June 14th
- Fermentation Class: Kefir and Beet Kvass, Saturday, June 15, 11:30 AM
- Teen Cooking Intensive (ages 12 to 17) July 16th to June 19th
Each fall and New Year’s resolution season, a six-week intuitive eating program for adults is offered.
Menu Operations
Sanctuary Holistic Kitchen offers cleansing packages for bulk purchases of food and juices, allowing customers to purchase food for multiple meals.
There are daily specials of animal protein soups and vegetable soups, as well as flavorful bone broths, and the menu is themed weekly with Italian, Asian, and a variety of other cuisines, resulting in a unique meal being served each day.
Potential Health Benefits
Cervantes said her prepared meals and juices help reduce inflammation, seasonal allergies and arthritis pain, and boost immunity. Her recipes are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, cane sugar, peanuts, corn, soy, shellfish and peanut oils. They also do not use canola oil or other oils that are thought to cause inflammation. All of her sauces and dressings are homemade.
When planning her menus, Cervantes considers spices and herbs that are in season. Summer dishes tend to feature cooling herbs like basil and thyme, which are good for summer allergies, while winter dishes tend to feature warming herbs like cumin, chili peppers, cloves and cinnamon, which can help ward off winter colds.
