“We treat it as a hospitality service and culinary arts school.”
Ammons hires students from the Chino Valley High School culinary program to work there and offers free veterans luncheons every other month. She has also made the restaurant into an all-encompassing family business experience, as many family members work there, and she says that those who are hired become extended family members.
For the veterans luncheons, the veterans can bring a guest. They both receive a non-alcoholic drink, soup or salad, entree and dessert made by the students.
Students ages 4 to 13 bus the tables. Ammons’ granddaughter, 2-year-old Leanna, welcomes the veterans, while their 8-year-old grandson, Skyler, also assists with their needs.
Julia and her husband, Chef Jason, also enjoy having their daughter, Gabriella, son, Kyle, daughter-in-law, Summer, and nieces and nephews as team members at Essence.
“We treat it as a hospitality service and culinary arts school. We have a lot of youth and for most of them it’s their first job,” she said. “We are teaching them about the industry. We want our team members to master their skills.”
Ammons said for many of the young team members, this is their first job. They don’t yet understand the real-world or the restaurant industry, so they are teaching them.
“We are nurturing,” she said.
Ammons expects the employees to make mistakes. “We want to teach them how to recover after mistakes. We all fall short sometimes, but we want to teach them how to recover quickly.”
Yavapai College’s horticulture program provides Essence with fresh produce and Ammons emphasizes that they use fresh food in all their meals.
During the holidays, Essence is helping to fill a teachers’ closet with supplies at BASIS Charter School in Prescott. When school starts each year, they provide students with backpacks, books and supplies for Quad Cities’ youth.
Essence also provides 30 veterans with Thanksgiving baskets and works with U.S. Vets and American Legion to have an angel tree for the veterans. Guests pick a star and shop for the veterans.
“We’re using the restaurant to support the community. That’s always been our mission,” Ammons said. “We train youth, not only to work, but to volunteer in the community.”
Ammons is also active in the Women’s Community Network and praises the work they do. “I hope the community is kinder for those working those businesses. There are so many great small businesses in Chino Valley and Prescott.”
Essence just remodeled this summer and has grown since opening during the pandemic in June 2020. Ammons said COVID worked in their favor, as it forced them to start slowly. She and her husband have been in the restaurant industry for about 40 years and saw too many restaurants that started quickly, but then slowed down.
“This has been our dream for about 10 years,” she said about having a service-oriented restaurant in the town they live in with many family members involved. She said her favorite aspect about the restaurant is the social part with both the team members and customers.
“Our guests are a family that we’ve created. It feels like community, as people are constantly getting up and going to other tables because they know each other from the community,” she said. “We wanted this for so many years.”
And, to Ammons, volunteerism remains key. “My mom (Mary Phares) instilled in me importance of volunteerism and helping people. She started the free clinic here 30 years ago.”
Ammons counts Chef Jill Bosich and two of her elementary school teachers, Cheri Arnold and Barbara White from Miller Valley Elementary School in Prescott, as her mentors. QCBN
By Stan Bindell, QCBN
Photo by Stan Bindell: Julie Ammons is flanked by Essence Kitchen and Bar team members Brannon Guest, Chef Jason Krupp, Evan Perez and Matthew Rinard.
Leave a Reply