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Center yourself with organic food and yoga

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FRESH: ASU alumni Leslie Tietelbaum prepares food at The Center on Sixth Street and Mill Avenue. The Center is an organic bistro and wine bar.

Tempe residents in search of a healthy lifestyle will have a new outlet starting this weekend.

The Center, a tri-level bistro, bodywork studio and inspirational gathering place, will hold its public opening event in the Orchid House near Sixth Street and Mill Avenue Saturday.

The Center is the brainchild of former lawyer Austin Vickers and former owner of Ford Modeling Agency Robert Black, Vickers said.

"Even though I was a passionate lawyer, my passion was always reading about the mind, spirit [and] body," Vickers said about his new line of work. "So I would go to work all day long and then the things I would read about were yogic philosophy, psychology, consciousness theories and quantum physics."

The Bistro on the first floor of the Center is Arizona's first organic restaurant, and once the liquor license is approved, will feature Arizona's first all-organic wine and beer bar, according to a wine-list at the Bistro.

An all-organic restaurant doesn't excite all ASU students.

"I don't think that many ASU kids would really [care about the restaurant]," said Alicia Padilla, a psychology sophomore. "But I think that for all the kids that want to eat healthier and not gain all the weight they say college students gain, then it would be good."

The second floor of The Center houses all of the bodywork studios and practitioners' offices, and Center officials plan to host various styles of yoga there, Vickers said.

Vickers said The Center plans to highlight a different naturopathic procedure each day of the week, including acupuncture and other alternative health practices.

Christina Fosnot, a nursing junior, said she would try to visit the bodywork studio at this weekend's opening.

"I think [The Center's premise] is kind of interesting," said. "I had no idea about it's [opening] and I would definitely like to check it out."

But Fosnot said she is unsure how many other students around ASU will be willing to experience it.

"I don't know how many share the same interests [as me], but I do eat all organic foods," Fosnot said.

Chris Andretta, an economics junior, said he would be one of the students disinterested in the Center.

"I guess if you like organic foods and that sort of stuff, that's a good thing," Andretta said. "But I don't particularly care."

The Center also has a nonprofit charity called The Stepping Up Foundation, which sells bottled water named after each of the yogic principles.

Vickers said that 100 percent of the profits from each bottle of water funds the United Nation Millennium goal of providing fresh drinking and sanitation water in Africa.

But the water would likely first help out Arizonans before Africans, Vickers said.

"We've got 80,000 Native Americans in the northern part of Arizona that are having major water shortage issues," Vickers said. "We'd probably take care of that before we even go to a place like Africa. If we don't take care of our own, then we've got issues."

Reach the reporter at: brittany.mccall@asu.edu.


ORGANIC: The Center is a new organic bistro and wine bar located just East of Mill Avenue between sixth and seventh streets in Tempe.


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