Guest: Sabrina Rudin — founder of Spring Cafe Aspen & New York, author of Healthy with a Side of Happy Host: Elizabeth Stein, founder & CEO of Purely Elizabeth Listen: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio
Sabrina Rudin opened Spring Cafe in Aspen with no restaurant experience, a founding chef she'd known since childhood, and a conviction that a mountain town full of ski tourists actually wanted organic, vegetarian food — not elk chili. Fourteen years later, Spring is one of Aspen's oldest running restaurants, with a second location in New York City and a cookbook that just came out: Healthy with a Side of Happy.
In this conversation, Sabrina and Elizabeth talk about what it actually takes to build a restaurant that becomes a community staple — the unexpected challenges of managing people and operations when that's not your strength, the 14-year slow build that everyone assumed would fail, and how staying connected to your why can open doors you never expected. They also dive into Sabrina's food philosophy, her childhood surrounded by sprouts and dehydrators, and why she believes the foundation of health never changes no matter how many trends come and go.
Key Takeaways
- -Know what you're good at — and find people who are great at what you're not — Sabrina's core advice for founders at any stage, whether you're opening a restaurant or writing a cookbook
- -The foundation of health is evergreen — organic fruits and vegetables, naturally gluten-free grains, soaked beans and legumes, low-glycemic sweeteners — nothing has changed since these practices cured her mother's eczema and food allergies decades ago
- -Community is what makes a business endure — Spring outlasted competitors who predicted it would fail because Sabrina built a community, not just a restaurant
- -Imposter syndrome means you're in the right room — if you're always the smartest person in the room and always know exactly what you're doing, you're probably in the wrong room
- -Know your why before you know the how — you don't need to have all the answers about what you're building; start with what you can bring to the table and what you genuinely believe in
- -Be open to going somewhere completely different — Sabrina expected 10 Spring locations. She has two. She also has a brand, a book, and a platform she never imagined — and that might be even better
- -The universe has three answers — yes, not yet, or I have something better in store for you
Products Mentioned
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Purely Elizabeth Protein Oatmeal — Elizabeth shares the new Maple Cinnamon Roll, Apple Harvest Crumble, and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread flavors, available at purelyelizabeth.com and coming soon to Albertsons, Publix, Whole Foods, and Target
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Episode Highlights
On growing up in a food-first household: Sabrina's mother cured her own eczema and severe food allergies through raw foods and an alkaline diet in her 20s — before anyone was talking about it. She raised Sabrina without preservatives, food dyes, parabens, or aluminum in deodorant, with trays of sprouts in the kitchen and an Excalibur dehydrator running. The lesson that stuck: food is the foundation of wellbeing, not an afterthought.
On the crazy idea that became Spring: While living in Aspen as a snowboard instructor, Sabrina noticed there was nowhere to eat that felt like her — organic, vegetarian, accessible all day, comfortable for anyone. Her now-husband was developing a building. She couldn't find a tenant to take the space. So she became the tenant. She partnered with Blanca, a founding chef who had run the only other vegetarian restaurant in Aspen, and opened Spring almost 14 years ago.
On the 14-year slow build: Everyone said Spring wouldn't last a day, then a year, then five years. The competitors who predicted it would close have since closed themselves. Sabrina's advice: the only person who has to believe your idea will succeed is you. Cultivate community, believe in your vision, and rally people around you.
On writing Healthy with a Side of Happy: Sabrina always knew she wanted to write a book — she has a piece of notebook paper from when she was 19 with "write a book" at the bottom of a list of life goals. The cookbook is vegetarian not because everyone should be vegetarian, but because most people already know how to cook meat and don't know how to make vegetables interesting. She wanted to give people the space to eat the rainbow — real variety, real produce, the kind of thing you find at a farmers market in the dead of winter that you'd never find in a supermarket aisle.
On social media and building a platform: Start sharing before you feel ready. Sabrina's earliest videos were propped against a tissue box with one light. When she tried to make them look aesthetic, nobody engaged. When she went back to being herself, people responded. That authenticity is what got her noticed, connected her with an agent, and eventually led to the book deal.
Top 3 Recipes from Healthy with a Side of Happy
Sabrina's picks for someone opening the book for the first time:
- Scrambled Tofu — a staple in Sabrina's household, eaten a few days a week; goes in a wrap as the Superhero Burrito or served as-is for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
- Pam's Vegetarian Lasagna — Sabrina's mother's recipe, her ultimate comfort food since childhood; a reminder that lasagna can be packed with vegetables and be genuinely delicious
- Smoothies and fresh juices — central to Spring's identity and Sabrina's daily life; her morning green juice is celery, cucumber, fennel, and lemon
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sabrina Rudin?
Sabrina Rudin is the founder of Spring Cafe, an organic vegetarian restaurant with locations in Aspen and New York City, and the author of Healthy with a Side of Happy. She opened Spring in Aspen nearly 14 years ago with no restaurant experience, inspired by a childhood immersed in natural foods and a conviction that Aspen needed a place where anyone could eat well at any time of day. She also writes on Substack at The Spring and shares content on Instagram at @springbysabrina.
What is Spring Cafe Aspen?
Spring Cafe is an organic, vegetarian restaurant in Aspen, Colorado (with a second location in New York City) that has become a community staple over 14 years. It's designed to feel like a kitchen that isn't your kitchen — open all day, accessible to everyone, focused on whole foods, and free of preservatives, artificial ingredients, and processed foods. Signature dishes include the Highlands Bowl, the Tofu Superhero Burrito, and the Blanca sandwich.
What is Sabrina Rudin's cookbook Healthy with a Side of Happy about?
Healthy with a Side of Happy is a vegetarian cookbook rooted in Sabrina's lifelong philosophy that food is the foundation of wellbeing. It's broken into sections designed to help readers change their kitchen, pantry, and refrigerator — not just their recipes. The book is heavy on front matter and narrative, written entirely by Sabrina, and focuses on whole foods, plant diversity, and the kind of nourishing cooking that Sabrina believes is timeless rather than trendy. Recipes range from scrambled tofu and vegetarian lasagna to fresh juices, smoothies, and a big Italian delicatessen salad.
What is Sabrina Rudin's food philosophy?
Sabrina believes the foundation of health is evergreen and unchanging: organic fruits and vegetables grown sustainably, naturally gluten-free grains like quinoa, millet, and brown rice, beans and legumes soaked and cooked properly, and low-glycemic sweeteners. She's not evangelical about vegetarianism — she eats sustainable seafood and occasional meat — but believes most people know how to cook protein and don't know how to make vegetables interesting. Her goal is to help people eat the rainbow and feel vibrant doing it.
What advice does Sabrina Rudin have for aspiring restaurateurs or food entrepreneurs?
Know what you're genuinely good at, bring in people who excel where you don't, and don't be precious about every decision. Build community around your mission before you worry about scale. Be open to the possibility that what you're building might end up being something completely different from what you imagined — and that might be better. And start before you have all the answers: you figure it out as you go.
How long did it take Sabrina Rudin to write her cookbook?
The process from proposal to publication took approximately three and a half years. Sabrina wrote the narrative entirely herself and developed the recipes with the help of a recipe tester, Ashton, who translated Sabrina's intuitive, unmeasured cooking into tested, scalable recipes.
Topics: Vegetarian Cooking · Restaurant Entrepreneurship · Whole Foods Diet · Plant Diversity · Food Philosophy · Cookbook Writing · Community Building · Wellness Lifestyle · Aspen Colorado
