The last time I checked, Aims Villanueva-Alf was out running within the downtown area of Juneau when she came across an unassuming restaurant space available to rent located on Seward Street.
The walls were painted in what Villanueva Alf called “bumblebee yellow” however she was able to imagine what would be Black Moon Koven: a dark, cozy room filled with taxidermy and skulls as well as cat coffins, three eyes and coffins painted onto the walls in black.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”When you walk through the window, they’re not sure what’s coming up. They don’t know whether they’re going to suffer a curse and they don’t know what you’ll be getting some the hex,” she said. “I wanted people to be interested enough to take the risk – and perhaps even receive banh mi .”
Black Moon Koven opened in April 2021. It offered delicious and sweet waffles for breakfast, sandwiches, and noodles at lunchtime. The restaurant was located on the northern side of the block, between Second Third and Third Streets, it was located outside the city’s tourist-oriented core. People stopped by all year round.
The last week, it was shut down. In the coming months, Villanueva Alf will be training to become Doulas in the field of death and grief.
The span style=”font-weight font-weight: 400 ;”>”When you think of grieving in general the list doesn’t include the ones who have passed away,” she said. It could also refer to “grieving an old friendship” or closing an establishment .”
In the years prior to Black Moon, Villanueva-Alf spent five years operating GonZo which was a restaurant located in Auke Bay. It was an “loud and all-over, adventurous” restaurant that occupied all her time, she said.
She shut down GonZo in 2020 following an incident where she was raped there.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I’d never experienced an experience like that,” she said. “I had many friends who had eaten out and also had people who done things to them but not in this manner that it was very lonely. .”
Villanueva Alf was in what she described as she called a “cocooning period.” She has signed a lease on the space in downtown. She invited her friends to draw ghosts and coffins on walls. The taxidermy collection she collected was impressive. She told me she was influenced by the Latin expression “memento mori” which translates to “remember that you must die.” .”
“How often have we needed to shed skins that we’ve had, or how many did we have to build upon these skins that we aren’t able to let go because we’re scared?” she said
The first dish she prepared with her brand new cooking space was bone broth. She then refined her recipe to bring out the flavor even more intense. Black Moon Koven offered bone broth that was spiced with ginger, garlic, scallions, and scallions intended to be drunk. It was also the basis of their noodles bowls.
The majority on the food menu is vegetarian or vegan. Villanueva-Alf was disappointed with most of the vegan and vegetarian dishes she had tried throughout The Pacific Northwest. A visit to the kitchens of restaurants at Ojai, California, showed that it can be done differently.
“You can eat healthy food and not be”like, ‘Where’s that taste?'” she said.
Customers can sign up for subscriptions to food that are based on their diet as well as pick up order in Black Moon. Villanueva-Alf has said that she will continue the subscription service for food after the closing.
As with any eatery in downtown Juneau Inflation pushed up the cost all things from the eggs and coffee to takeaway containers. Villanueva Alf managed local vendors such as Juneau Greens and shipments arriving via Alaska Airlines. Parking downtown was a hassle for both staff and customers.
And in contrast to GonZo, Black Moon Koven was not all-consuming for Villanueva-Alf. She began studying the art of yoga, sound healing, and spiritual psychology at the time she launched Black Moon. A query by one of the teachers inspired her to make her next move, becoming a doula for death.
It’s a span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It was”If” you had the chance to be a thing for yourself as an infant What would you become? What would you require? Do you have the ability to bring it out right now?” she added. “And I thought about how much I would’ve wanted someone to talk to me about my grief. .”
At the age of 9, Villanueva-Alf suffered the unplanned loss of a beloved friend. The shock of losing a loved one came with confusion over how to handle the loss.
She is now determined to assist those who are nearing the point of death and those who love them to experience grief and death in a healthy and positive way. Similar to birth doulas, funeral doulas can help with that by providing emotional and spiritual support, as opposed to medical, assistance.
“I would like to offer people recipes for how to live well,” she said.
She’s currently grieving the end in Black Moon Koven. The last couple of days giving decorations to family members and staff of seven. Soon, it’d have been time to spray paint her black walls white.
Contrary to GonZo, Black Moon is closing on the terms of Villanueva Alf’s own and out of a sense of anticipation for the future, not an obligation with an earlier time.
