Mara, 22, Eden Alley

by NADIA PFLAUM

Not in a million years would I guess that Mara, a server at Eden Alley on the Plaza, is a Hot Topic shopper. But she says that’s where she got her amazing jeans with sailor-themed anchors on the buttons and back pockets. She was right about other stuff, like the fact that the avocado salad was amazing, and that a dessert called a “Kombucha fizz” with sorbet would treat me right — and that was all definitely true.

Kombucha, according to Wikipedia, is a fermented, sweetened Chinese tea drink, and Mara swears by it; she says it is good for her skin and kidneys. “It makes me feel energized,” she says.

She told me she likes to look comfortable but cute (check, check) and that she wears a lot of dresses that would fit in well at the beach. There’s no beach for miles from the Plaza, but there is a Kombucha fizz, and sometimes that’s exotic enough for a Kansas City weekend.