Photo Story: Bloom

For this assignment I had to create a photo story. I visited the vegan restaurant Bloom multiple times over about a two week period to take photos.

Located on Cornwall Avenue, Bloom is the first and only vegan restaurant in Bellingham. Not only is Bloom vegan, it is also 100 percent organic and offers only raw foods; it features local ingredients and gluten-free foods, as well as a variety of superfoods. Almost everything on the menu is made fresh, including but not limited to, the hummus, guacamole, sauces and dressings. Customers can order soups, salads, wraps, quinoa (a type of grain) bowls, rice and bean bowls, smoothies, desserts, pizza, pasta and veggie burgers. Bloom is open every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Owner Justin Bilancieri, 31, drizzles a nori wrap with Bloom’s superfood dressing June 2. Bilancieri said the dressing is so healthy because it contains the superfoods spirulina, black sesame seed meal, flaxseed meal, turmeric and dill. The superfood dressing is served on the superfood salad, which comes with all the wraps and the [quinoa and Cajun] bowls.

Bethany Butler, 20, serves Bloom’s soup of the day, Spinach Vegetable, to first-time customer Philip Damon, 73 June 2. Butler is a vegetarian and has been working at Bloom for about five months. “I wanted to be a part of something helping the community, something positive, something with a vision,” she said. “It feels good [to be] serving people something healthy.”

Bilancieri prepares a sea veggie burger, named so because the patty contains kelp, a superfood containing many nutrients and minerals. Bloom offers three varieties of veggie burger, all of which are amongst the most recent additions to the menu. Bilancieri said he chose to add the veggie burgers as a way to include foods that more people would be familiar with. They are served raw, but can be heated if the customer asks. “It’s about half and half who eat it raw,” Bilancieri said. “People have been very receptive to [eating it] raw, which is nice. They seem to really like it.” Bilancieri says the Bloom burger has been the most recent favorite among customers.

Cynthia Spiriti (left), 54, enjoys lunch with friend Janet Schlenkerman, 54, on the afternoon of June 2. Spiriti, a vegan, said the two women take an Iyengar yoga class together at 8 Petals Yoga in downtown Bellingham. “We’ve been coming pretty regularly,” Spiriti said. “It’s great food; healthy food.”

Bilancieri has been a vegan for approximately seven years. He opened Bloom because he wanted to help increase the number of vegan options in Bellingham. “I had the desire to open the public’s mind to vegan ideas," Bilancieri said. "I wanted to give them the option because the town doesn’t have the option right now.” Bilancieri said the café is still a work in progress; he hopes to host a small film festival and nightly events, such as Wednesday open mic nights. “[Bloom is] slowly but surely growing,” Bilancieri said. “It’s still not a huge success by any means, but it’s getting busier.”