Here’s to your health

We found Stacy Marie Lyons working behind the counter in the Second Street health-conscious restaurant called Grilla Bites. Lyons, who hails from Napa, is a Chico State University junior studying media arts and hopes one day to make documentaries. She’s worked for Grilla Bites’ owner Fred Marken for close to two years now and credits, at least in part, their mutual interest in healthful food for her current employment, which includes everything from taking orders to preparing meals to cleaning up at the end of the business day. Grilla Bites’ menu is almost entirely organic and offers things like tofu, soy and tempeh burgers, as well as a killer organic chili.

What’s the best thing on the menu?

The tofu with soy cheese or the veggie (burger) with soy cheese and anything that is vegan.

How long have you been a vegan and how long have you worked here?

I started working here a couple of months after I became a vegan.

Coincidental?

No. But it was kind of cool, and that is actually how I first talked with Fred. We were talking about food revolution and being vegan and the environment. He wasn’t vegan, but I think I’ve influenced him because now we have a lot more vegan food and vegan recipes.

So this is maybe how you got the job—because you’re a vegan?

Well yeah, that and I wrote a letter persuading him to hire me. I told him I really liked what he was doing with the store and that I admired the fact he had the guts to go do that.

How do you like working downtown?

I like working downtown because it’s right by school and because I work so much and can just go back and forth between here and school. I park way over there (gestures to the east side of town) so I don’t have to pay.

Do you think there is a parking problem downtown and should they build a parking structure?

I don’t know about that. People just don’t like to walk, they have to park right in front of where they work. There’s tons of spots just a couple of blocks away. It’s better for people to walk anyway.

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years?

In 10 years! I hope to be making a difference in the world by influencing people to see things from outside their narrow points of view, being open to alternative views.