True Food Kitchen, a restaurant chain focused on healthy eating, is expanding into New Jersey. Now, Oprah herself is on board to help steer the business to greener pastures. The restaurants serve seasonal vegetable dishes, grass-fed burgers, pizza and cocktails. Watch video
Oprah Winfrey is bringing her zest for healthy eating and business acumen to New Jersey by way of a restaurant chain.
Bloomberg reports that Winfrey, 64, has decided to pour her money and influence into True Food Kitchen, a chain where healthy eating is the focus.
The business, founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 2008, is due to expand on the East Coast and come to New Jersey, New York and North Carolina, with the ultimate goal of doubling its locations to 46. No specific New Jersey locations are named in the report.
Dr. Andrew Weil, a doctor known for his integrative approach to medicine, is one of the founders of the restaurant chain. He had the “simple belief that food should make you feel better, not worse,” says the company’s website.
True Food Kitchen serves alcohol but dispenses with fryers and freezers. The restaurants have built their menus using what the company calls the anti-inflammatory pyramid, a way of eating that is intended to counteract chronic inflammation in the body.
The menu was designed with nutrient density in mind, meaning that ingredients are evaluated for their nutritional value. True Food Kitchen also aims to serve an audience of people who can’t often can’t eat out elsewhere because of dietary restrictions.
“I like to think True Food Kitchen is the antidote to factory food,” the chain’s brand chef, Robert McCormick, says in a promotional video.
Centerbridge Partners, the firm that owns P.F. Chang’s, is the majority shareholder of the chain.
The team behind the restaurants, which are due to bring in $ 170 million this year, “believe delicious dining and conscious nutrition can go hand in hand, without sacrificing flavor, creativity or indulgence,” according to the website.
Winfrey is joining the company’s board of directors. In addition to her media empire, including her TV network, OWN, she is known for giving Weight Watchers a boost in recent years, upping both her earnings and the company’s customer base when she became an ambassador for the weight loss program in 2015. Bloomberg reports that Winfrey added $ 400 million to her net worth since making the deal.
“I love bringing people together over a good meal,” Winfrey said in a statement. “When I first dined at True Food Kitchen, I was so impressed with the team’s passion for healthy eating and, of course, the delicious food, that I knew I wanted to be part of the company’s future.”
So far, the restaurants are located in 12 states including Pennsylvania (there’s one in the King of Prussia Mall), Texas, California, Illinois, Maryland and Florida.
The current True Food Kitchen menu, which changes based on the season, is divided into sections for vegetables, salads, sandwiches, starters, bowls, entrees and pizza. Distinctions are made for vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free items (here, they’re called “gluten-friendly”).
Vegetable dishes include heirloom tomato with watermelon and coconut lime yogurt, bowls include cashew pad Thai, and pizza is made with artichoke and pesto and fennel chicken sausage.
The restaurant serves grass-fed burgers, poke bowls, spaghetti squash casserole and tacos made with grilled fish or grass-fed steak, along with “responsibly sourced” striped bass.
Salads include a Korean noodle mix made with sweet potato glass noodles and a grilled chicken dish with dates, Manchego cheese and dried cranberries.
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.