ASHEVILLE — There's much to unpack about the newest addition to West Asheville's busy Haywood Road corridor, Simple Cafe and Juice Bar.

There's the fact that two vanguards of the food-truck movement have joined forces to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant together: Suzy Salwa Phillips of Gypsy Queen Cuisine and Nate Kelly, founder of the Lowdown Food Truck.

►Read more: Living Portrait: Suzy Phillips by Anthony Bellemare

There's the healthy menu — cold-pressed juices, raw vegetable bowls, sandwiches — that bears no strict allegiance to any diet philosophy.

Then there's the baseball-sized brain tumor found growing in Kelly's head this summer, the removal of which only delayed the opening of the restaurant a month.

First a brain tumor, then a shaman

That tumor, benign and named Fozzie, was excised from behind Kelly's eyeballs, right around the time he and Phillips were getting ready to open their restaurant.

The chef bears no leftover effects, save a serious scar and, he thinks, a stronger range of emotions.

Phillip's recalls Kelly's reaction to her hiring a shaman, who cleansed the building's odd energy while Kelly was in the hospital, as a signal that he is now more open.

"Nate's a different person after this surgery. Before, he was skeptical of certain things, and I wanted the space cleansed, but didn't want him to judge me for it."

The Haywood Road building, once home to Pineapple Jacks, has been only sporadically open in busy West Asheville for years, most recently as Sub Grasso.

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The shaman spiritually cleansed the building, Phillips said. "Sage wasn't going to do it."

It's noticeably fresher and lighter now, though skeptics are welcome to credit a fresh coat of paint and enthusiastic owners.

"Now it feels really good, and Nate noticed it right away as soon as he came in, after it was cleansed and after he got out of the hospital," Phillips recalled.

"It was like night and day," Kelly agreed. "I don't know if it's because Fozzie was no longer here, but it felt so much cleaner, open. It feels bright and has good energy now."

Simple's menu is "naughty and nice"

Phillips is best known for the Mediterranean food she serves at Gypsy Queen Market and Deli on Patton Avenue and her food truck of the same name, both of which remain open.

►Read more: Lebanese eatery by the Gypsy Queen coming to Asheville

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The menu at Simple is purely its own, with breakfast dishes from bagels with lox to overnight chia pudding and granola bowls. Breakfast and lunch is served all day.

There's a raw squash salad, but there's also a decadent Cobb with bacon and blue cheese.

There are vegetable juices and smoothies, but there's also a roast beef sandwich and a muffaletta, as well as a tempeh-avocado melt with tamarind slaw.

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You could be forgiven for imagining that latter sandwich on the menu of the beloved and now-defunct Max and Rosie's.

►Read more: Readers weigh in: Asheville's 10 most-missed restaurants

"Max and Rosie's was definitely the inspiration," said Phillips. "That's not it, but it's close. We could not nail it, so we've got our own little thing going on."

The menu will change frequently, but will always be both naughty and nice, she said. "Just because it's a juice bar doesn't mean it's a vegan joint."

Kelly, whose recent bout with a brain tumor has spurred him to live a healthier lifestyle, is amused by the fact that he owns a clean-eating place.

He was the guy who never went to the doctor, who didn't really take care of himself, he said. That's all changed.

"This has been a sign telling me: 'This is the direction you need to go.'"

A trip to the mall ended in an MRI

In late June, Kelly went to a mall optometrist to have his blurry vision checked.

He was expecting maybe a prescription for eye drops. Instead the optometrist called an ophthalmologist, who recommended Kelly get an MRI. Immediately.

It was Friday, so Kelly sat in the ER for 10 hours before seeing a doctor. The news, when it came, was a shock.

"Finally the doctor came out and said, 'Don't be freaked out, but you have a brain tumor.'"

A baseball-sized benign meningioma, the most common type of brain tumor, had been growing undetected for approximately 5-7 years, pressing against his frontal lobe.

He and his wife named it Fozzie to make light of the situation. Four days later, he was prepped for surgery at Mission Hospital. The procedure lasted 14 hours.

A new lease on life

Out of surgery, Kelly was ordered two weeks of bedrest and to lift no more than three pounds. But he wanted to run marathons, change the world — or open a restaurant.

Phillips buckled down and picked up the slack, he said. So did his family. "I feel so lucky to have the support system I have."

Kelly appears to show no lingering effects, though he'll forever get annual MRIs and live a healthier lifestyle.

But he admits he's more sensitive now. His sense of smell has blossomed. Beautiful music makes him cry.

"This might sound odd, but this might be the best thing that's ever happened to me," he said, his eyes filling with tears. "I get another chance to be a father, husband, friend — I have a new lease on life.

I feel truly blessed that we were able to catch it when we did, and I didn't have a stroke or an aneurysm."

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Kelly was first embarrassed by the outpouring of emotions. But he's given himself permission to feel.

"You know what, I've survived a brain tumor. I can cry if I want to, I'm allowed to feel this way ... maybe the tumor was blocking some things, and maybe this is the way I should feel."

His words of wisdom? Eat healthy. Get check ups.

"Appreciate what you have, because you just never know," he said, tearing up again before breaking into a hearty laugh. "And drink all the juice you can! Come to Simple."

Simple Cafe and Juice Bar is at 643 Haywood Road.