Fill up your cup at Shine On Juicery

by Danielle Puleo

Food for thought: What if the food we consume allowed us to feel so much more than physically full? What if food served as a way to help us ease our anxieties, gain strength, feel more energized, got us out of a mental fog and uplifted us on a regular basis? That is what Amy Landes, owner of Shine On Juicery, has aspired to show her customers through the food she prepares.

Landes grew up in northern Virginia and attended college at James Madison University. After graduating in 2007, she decided to take a year to decompress and spend some time on the Outer Banks. Landes loved it so much, she chose to stay.

Another great love of hers? Food. “I have just always loved food really, and I’ve always loved preparing it myself, being creative and trying different things,” she said. “At some point along that journey of creating, I started getting really curious as to how what we are eating affects how you feel and what makes a person healthy and happy in general.”

While waiting tables and dipping her toes in several side projects, Landes developed a deep appreciation for how food affects the human body, not only for herself, but for her newborn daughter. She was introduced to the concept of raw and living foods during this time after reading a book on the matter and started researching. The Living Light Culinary Institute piqued her interest enough that she attended two weeks of classes out in Fort Bragg, California.

“I learned so many, at the time probably odd, ways to prepare your food,” she said. Some techniques that were taught included sprouting and dehydrating, focusing on how to preserve the vitamins and minerals in food. She also learned how to eat for “vibrant health” in a tasty way.

Landes felt like these classes had opened up a whole new door of possibilities. She spent time taking online courses with the Matthew Kelley Culinary School, where she was introduced to juicing. “Once I got into the juicing world I started realizing there’s a lot of different ways to make juice too.” Not all juice is the same, she soon found out, and neither is the way in which to prepare juices. She opted for the cold pressed method.

While practicing her preparations, Landes started selling her homemade juice at local pop-ups and markets. She would cook for clients in their homes and then began creating juice cleanses for those who were interested. “I just wanted to create my food and share it wherever turned up,” she said.

In 2020 an opportunity came knocking on Landes’ door that she could not turn down, an opportunity to set up shop at the former location of The Pit Surf Shop in Kill Devil Hills. A community had already begun forming in the complex; a group of like-minded individuals was coming together who all agreed the world needed some uplifting.

“Part of the reason this felt like such the right spot was because of our neighbors, Ascension; Shree and I had collaborated on pop-ups before, I was providing juice for her markets at Ascension and we had worked at The Well together too, so it was community already in place.” Landes added, “A like-minded community, interested in raising the vibration, so it felt really good to have this place open up. It just felt right.”

Shine On Juicery found its home in July of 2020, but the next year was filled with readying the space and preparing. It was on April 22, 2021 that the juicery opened its doors to the public and the response has been a positive one.

“People are happy to have the option to go somewhere and know they can get something special and tasty that is good for them,” Landes shared. “They love being able to experience the whole compound. Go fill up your cup in so many different ways.”

Shine On Juicery offers cold pressed, fresh, flavorful juices that each embody their own health benefits. The juice is prepared in-house, with ingredients that Landes picks out by hand

Danielle Puleo photo

Amy Landes, owner of Shine On Juicery.

Danielle Puleo photo

All of Shine On’s juices o er a range of health benefi ts to promote overall wellness.

locally. Most of the shopping is done at Harris Teeter, where organic ingredients are abundant.

When the shop is closed, Landes is busy shopping and prepping. Not only does Shine On offer juice, but delectable food options are available daily. “We make small batches of juice and put them out, but we also have summer rolls with ginger sauce, avocado toast with microgreens, smoothies… lots of house made fixings that go with things, like the strawberry daydream smoothie has the house raw butter in it that I make finding high quality, high vibe ingredients,” Landes said, “and putting them all together in delightful ways.”

The amount of time and care that goes into each juice preparation is noteworthy. From the water that is used to wash the produce to the way the juice is prepared using a high-quality juicer, Landes said all of the little details is what makes the final product something worth sharing with the world. All of the juice is bottled locally as well, with an ingredient label printed at the shop and placed on each lid before they hit the shelf.

“The best part about doing this is serving people something and then them coming back and saying, ‘I think I feel better after eating that or drinking that,’ and they’re almost kind of surprised.” Landes offered, “You should feel uplifted, you should feel energized and you should feel good from your food.”

To those that are thinking of trying her juice, Landes said it’s good to be open-minded. “Really just check in with yourself and be intuitive about your self-care, which includes your food,” she said. “Honor what it is that your body needs and be both open to trying new things and letting things go. Sometimes you realize things are affecting you in a way you didn’t even realize.”

The Shine On Juicery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Landes also offers juice cleanses to those that are interested. To learn more, visit www.shineonobx. com. 