Leslie Needleman says that when her friends would visit her during her breast cancer treatments in 2009, everyone had to try the green juice she made. “I had to dive deep into what a healthy lifestyle should look like so that once all of my treatments were over, I was making sure that the environment was a healthy one and that my cancer wouldn't return,” she says. Food became medicine—green juice and kale salads were among Needleman’s favorites during that time—but she quickly realized that food and juices with clean and organic ingredients were hard to come by in the Dallas area.
Recognizing a void, she and her longtime friend Mary Kathryn Bass set out to create a space where customers could trust the ingredients in juices, smoothies, and small bites. They launched juice bar and restaurant The Gem in Preston Hollow in 2012. “We knew the importance of this clean, organic, and healthy lifestyle, and wanted to provide it for others,” Needleman says. Now, the green juice she made for her friends during her cancer treatments, since named the Green Glow, is among the venue’s best sellers.
The Gem began as a pop-up store near Inwood and Lovers, and now, thirteen years later, it has grown to two brick-and-mortar locations, one on Preston and Forest and one inside Preston Center. Both draw regular customers from as far as Waxahachie and Frisco. “People are hungry, literally and figuratively, for some place to come for juice and clean food,” Needleman says. The menu features juices and dishes made with certified organic and non-GMO ingredients sourced from around the country. Highlights include the Mushroom Veggie Pureé (MVP) Soup, a pesto made from pine nuts and jalapeños, quinoa with arugula and mushroom, and a chia pudding. “The lentil soup that we still serve today, Mary Kathryn would make that for me and leave it on my doorstep 15 or 16 years ago,” Needleman says.
The same trust and care that’s evident in Bass and Needleman’s friendship has guided their business partnership. “We know that each other can handle all things that relate to running this business,” Bass says, adding that generally, Needleman, who had a previous career in marketing, covers The Gem’s branding and outreach, while Bass addresses H.R. and details in the kitchen. The pair say they are “always open” to finding the perfect spot for a third location, but that in the near-term, their goal is to continue to impact the Preston Hollow area as much as they can. “It has ripple effects,” Bass says. “We feel proud to impact our little space.”
“I had to dive deep into what a healthy lifestyle should look like so that once all of my treatments were over, I was making sure that the environment was a healthy one and that my cancer wouldn't return.”—Leslie Needleman, The Gem
“People are hungry, literally and figuratively, for some place to come for juice and clean food.”—Leslie Needleman, The Gem