Organic Fusion Teahouse owned, operated by industry-experienced brothers
BY L.J. GAMBONE
APPLE VALLEY REVIEW
Like most cities, Apple Valley has an abundance of fast food restaurants offering everything from burgers and fries to tacos and chicken nuggets. But as Americans seem to be growing more health conscious, many are looking for more nutritious choices to grab on the go.
Enter Organic Fusion Teahouse, a health food restaurant, tea room and smoothie and juice bar located at 20162 Highway 18, Suite I. The establishment opened last fall and is owned and operated by brothers Jesse and Leo Chen, who both have extensive experience in the food service industry.
“My brother and I used to have a Chinese food restaurant and most of that stuff is not healthy,” said Jesse Chen. “So we decided to move to the High Desert and open a place that would offer the public more nutritious choices.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of people here seem to be interested in living a healthier lifestyle, so we feel we’re really meeting a need.”
Chen said he and Leo are very proud of their restaurant’s wide selection of organic teas, which include varieties of white, green and black. Additionally, Organic Fushion Tea House’s menu also features a number of herbal teas, such as Egyptian Chamomile, French Lemon Ginger and Apricot Escape.
“We buy all of our teas at www.artoftea.com,” said Chen. “They are a wholesale company based in Los Angeles that imports teas from all over the world. Our customers can order tea from their catalog and have it shipped directly to our store, which saves them on shipping costs and also whatever it might cost them in gas to go to a retail tea store down the hill to buy loose teas.
“This is a very unique service we offer and we’re hoping lots of people will take advantage of it.”
In addition to its teas, Organic Fushion Tea House also serves organic soy milk, as well as over a dozen types of smoothies. Among the selections are: Vanilla Caramel, Brown Sugar, Strawberry Kiwi, Mango, Coconut Pineapple and Honeydew, to name a few.
The teahouse also makes slushy drinks with watermelon, peach, mango, strawberry and other fruits. And it offers salads, appetizers and rice dishes.
“Our crispy fried popcorn chicken is one of our most popular items,” said Chen. “We use premium chicken and fry them in a mixture of olive and canola oils, which is much healthier than your standard vegetable oil that many places use.”
Prices at Organic Fusion Teahouse range from $3.25 for a cup of hot tea to $3.75 for a smoothie. Topping for smoothies, such as honey boba, aloe vera and lychee jelly, can be purchased for an additional 50 cents. An order of popcorn chicken is $5.95 and salads and rice dishes start at $9.25.
“I see great potential here for a restaurant like ours,” said Chen. “Everything is fresh and prepared with the best ingredients possible, so we’re pretty confident we’re going to continue to do very well.”
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/organicfusionteahouse or call 760-242-9239.