Many Bachelor fans are excited to see show favorite Ben Higgins beginning a new chapter in his life. The 29-year-old Indiana native took the starring role of ABC’s 20th season of The Bachelor where he ended up falling in love and getting engaged to 25-year-old flight attendant Lauren Bushnell. The two ultimately couldn’t make the relationship last and ended their engagement in May of 2017.
While Bushnell swiftly moved on, Higgins admittedly struggled with the breakup. He later appeared on Bachelor Winter Games in hopes of a second chance at finding lasting love, but he left early saying he simply wasn’t in the right mental state to begin dating again. In a candid interview with the show’s host Chris Harrison, Higgins shed tears while explaining the emotional toll the split from Bushnell had on him.
According to People , the reality television star has begun to seek a new dream, that of starting a restaurant. Higgins announced his exciting new project on his professional website Mahogany Workplace. It was there he shared his excitement about opening a Denver-based restaurant named Ash’Kara next month.
Higgins’ dream to become a restaurant owner began in his youth when he would visit a restaurant called Stacy’s with his family. The restaurant was named after a woman in his own home state of Indiana. The star recalled many happy memories at the restaurant, which “served steaks, a red drink my grandma would order sheepishly — she’d giggle after drinking it — and the best pre-frozen calamari that side of the Tippy river had to offer,” he said.
“The atmosphere was even better than the food. Christmas lights hung from the tiled ceiling. The bar’s massive mirror made the restaurant look twice its size, ashtrays lined tables covered in plastic tablecloths, and smoking was allowed.”
Higgins deemed Stacy his childhood hero and said that her restaurant taught him the value of sharing food with people you love. He knew that one day he wanted to have his own restaurant where more happy memories could be made. His new Denver restaurant will serve Israeli and Middle Eastern food and will be a physical representation of “the power of breaking bread.”
His faith in God has given Higgins strength as he has struggled to come out on the other side of a rough past couple of years. The star referenced the Last Supper, during which Jesus chose dinner as a time to make important memories. “I know nothing else than to follow Jesus’s lead in life,” Higgins said.
