Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from LYFE Kitchen's chief communications officer.
LYFE Kitchen, a healthful fast-casual concept from a team that includes a former McDonald’s executive, opened its first restaurant Wednesday in Palo Alto, Calif.
The concept features menu items containing fewer than 600 calories each, some with organic ingredients, and less than 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Draft and bottled beers and “bio-dynamic” wines are served with juices, smoothies and alternative “coolers,” including a cucumber-mint variety.
LYFE Kitchen, whose name is an acronym for “Love Your Food Everyday,” serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The restaurant’s management team includes chief executive Mike Roberts, who formerly was president and chief operating officer of McDonald’s Corp., and investment banker Stephen Sidwell. Sidwell also is an investor in Garden Protein International, the Canada-based company that produces Gardein, a meat-free protein line included in several LYFE Kitchen recipes.
The menu was created by consulting chefs Art Smith, Oprah Winfrey’s former personal chef, and Tal Ronnen, executive chef for Gardein, both of whom are known for promoting healthful eating.
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Menus go meatless
The brand is one of a growing number of health-focused concepts, including Seasons 52, owned by Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc., and True Foods Kitchen, from Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Fox Restaurant Concepts.
Mike Donahue, Chicago-based LYFE Kitchen’s chief communications officer, said the concept is aimed squarely at one demographic.
“We look for everyone who is looking for great-tasting food that is good for them, but we know perfectly well that the people who are making the purchasing decisions for their children are the mothers,” Donahue said at a pre-opening event. “Our major demographic is moms and women ages 19 to 49 years old.”
Hear more from Donahue; story continues on next page
