Few menus read like Funky Fresh’s: spring rolls – always grilled, never fried – swapping the cabbage, rice and carrots for American cafe staples such as sweet potato and black bean, buffalo chicken and kale, or the bacon-tomato-avocado stuffed chicken club.
“It just spoke to me,” McGee says. “Like, why has no one ever put different ingredients inside a spring roll? Never! I’m not a genius; it just made sense.”
What started as healthy handheld post-workout snacks for his clients soon boomed into the main attraction. In 2014, Funky Fresh broke into the farmers market circuit and by May of this year, McGee opened a counter-service space in The Shops of Grand Avenue.
A sister site is set to open in the eagerly anticipated Sherman Phoenix complex, tentatively scheduled for November. McGee calls Funky Fresh’s inclusion in this new public market space – the bank building destroyed by fire during the 2016 Sherman Park riots – “an honor.” McGee’s personal odyssey has grown to something larger indeed, a development that seeks to make positive economic and social impact in a community of color.
TrueMan’s Tips
1. Have three go-to healthy meals for when life gets hectic. Hit all the right areas: greens and colors, lean proteins. “I’ll eat one buffalo and kale spring roll, and make a strawberry avocado cashew salad,” says McGee. 2. Be creative. Find ways to put healthy twists on traditionally unhealthy meals. “When I make burgers, they’re usually turkey, and I’m [adding] spinach, avocado, mushrooms. Find times when you’re OK replacing meats with things like portobello mushrooms and zucchini,” he says. 3. 10 minutes is all you need for a workout. Find time to invest in yourself: “See how many pushups you can do, or squats. When I was training, we used to do 10 minutes of burpees, and it feels like you’ve been working for an hour.” 4. Low-impact exercise can have long-term results. Take the stairs, walk, mow the lawn. It’s like saving pennies: Do it long enough and it’ll pay off.
