NEW HAVEN — What began as a chance visit to the Yale University Art Gallery a few months ago ended up with Harrison Rhee serving "24 Carrot Gold" orange, carrot, turmeric and ginger juice; acai fruit bowls, and "kimchee spice" avocado toast at his new Green Bliss Juice Bar.
Had it not been for Rhee, his wife, Rachel, and their three children checking out the art museum — directly across the street from his new place at 1092 Chapel St. — it might never have happened.
Rhee, a former New Yorker who grew up in New Jersey, opened his first Green Bliss in 2021 in New Paltz, N.Y.
He moved to Connecticut about a year ago when Rachel, a school psychologist, got a job at Stratford Academy: Johnson House school, he said.
Rhee spoke after being joined by Mayor Justin Elicker and Alexandra Daum, Yale's University's associate vice president for New Haven affairs and university properties, to cut a ribbon at Green Bliss' grand opening this month.
The day he visited the art museum, he looked across the street and saw another juice bar, The Juice Box, in what looked like the perfect place for Rhee to open another Green Bliss; something he already knew he wanted to do in his new home.
He went across the street to check it out, saw someone cleaning up inside who told him that they had just closed a few days earlier.
Rhee called Yale University Properties, which owns the space, and ultimately worked out a deal to open there, Rhee explained as his children Cade, 9, Luke, 7, and Emma, also 7, alternately bounced balloons and offered juice samples in little plastic cups nearby.
Yale mascot Handsome Dan XIX also wagged his tail nearby, accompanied by his handler.
Rhee opened Green Bliss on Feb. 22.
While Rhee opened his first Green Bliss in 2021, he became interested in cut fruit as a child growing up in a Korean American household, he said.
"Growing up, I just loved cutting fruit," he said.
Rhee is a self-taught chef who began working at another juice bar at age 20.
Green Bliss is called a juice bar, but it serves a variety of offerings, mostly made with vegetarian ingredients, according to its menu.
Among them are several varieties of toast, including "Everything Avocado Toast," the aforementioned "Kimchee Spice" avocado toast, fruit toast, "Scrambled Egg Feta Toast," "Peanut Butter Toast" and smoked salmon toast with cream cheese, cucumber, dill, pepper and capers. All are served on artisanal breads.
It also serves sweet and savory puff pastry and croissant waffles, fruit and acai "Smoothie Bowls" and, of course, at least 15 varieties of smoothie. The smoothies include such flavors as "Berry Burst," "Mango Explosion," "Tropical Pop," "Acai Blast," "Nutella Chill," "Spark Plug," "Honey Bee" and "Purple Crush."
Most mix several varieties of fruits, vegetables, juices, milk and yogurt blended together — such as "Purple Crush," which includes blueberry, banana, dates, almonds, blue spirulina and milk.
"We use all organic ingredients," Rhee said in a release. "We prioritize health without sacrificing taste. Many juices are healthy but lack flavor, while Green Bliss proves that healthy can also be delicious.”
During the grand opening celebration, Daum welcomed Green Bliss and complimented Rhee on the quality of his construction, which she called "beautiful."
Opening a new business, "is so much sweat and tears," she said.
“With its focus on healthy, unique, and delicious offerings, Green Bliss is a welcome addition to our extensive portfolio of restaurants and cafes at The Shops at Yale, and another reason why so many consider New Haven a foodie paradise,” Daum said in a release.
Elicker said "New Haven is hopping" and businesses, such as Green Bliss, both "benefit from that growth and drive that growth." For a small business like Green Bliss, 67 cents of every dollar spent goes into the local economy, he said.
He called the story of how Rhee found his place in the city "a New Haven story."