LYFE Kitchen: Finally Fast Food For Flavor and Fitness

Chances are you haven't seen this logo but odds are it will soon become very familiar. L.Y.F.E. is an acronym that stands for Love Your Food Everyday. It is a brand new quick service restaurant (QSR) concept coming to fruition quickly with some very formidable culinary and food industry experts behind it.

Healthy food and big flavors are not normally synonymous but LYFE Kitchen rallied two of the biggest names in both fields to create their tasty menus that are not only healthy but organic and primarily from local sources. My first photo is of the dynamic team of celebrated chefs, Tal Ronnen and Art Smith. This team packs a serious one/two punch with Chef Ronnen creating the vegan/vegetarian dishes and Chef Smith making sure the heartiest meat eaters will also be satisfied.

Chefs Ronnen and Smith pose playfully and cook up a storm for us.

Chef Art Smith has been called "America's Family Table Chef" because he is known for his southern style comfort food. He has been a personal chef for Oprah. His cookbooks, television appearances and philanthropy have lead to two James Beard Awards. He owns Table Fifty-Two restaurant in Chicago which is a favorite of President Obama as well as Art and Soul restaurant in Washington D.C. However, Chef Art Smith knows all too well the importance of diet and exercise as he struggled with diabetes himself. His personal wake up call at 50 years old lead to a fitness regimen that resulted in his weight loss of nearly 100 pounds. Chef Smith is also a ardent supporter of the less fortunate communities and founded his Common Threads organization in 2003 to teach low income children the value of nutrition. His combination of experience, celebrity and integrity are unmatched for the person leading the LYFE Kitchen project as Executive Chef.

Here Chef Smith is dusting a boneless, skinless chicken breast with Panko bread crumbs. This technique is one of several tricks to get more fried chicken flavor without the fat and calories.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts get a dusting of Panko bread crumbs by Art

Chef Smith's dish was finished off beautifully with roasted brussel sprouts, butternut squash,  some cranberries and a mustard sauce.

Chicken Breast with Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Cranberries

LYFE Kitchen's founders were genius to also bring on board Chef Tal Ronnen as consulting chef. Chef Ronnen is the rock star of the vegan and vegetarian culinary world. His credentials and story of rising to the top of his field just resonate. Here is just a sampling from his own website:

Chef Tal Ronnen is one of the most celebrated vegan chefs working today. In the spring of 2008, he became known nationwide as the chef who prepared vegan meals for Oprah Winfrey's 21-day vegan cleanse. He has since catapulted to fame, catering Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's vegan wedding, Arianna Huffington's party at the Democratic National Convention, and the first vegan dinner at the U.S. Senate. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, Chef Tal has worked at the top vegan restaurants in the United States, including Sublime in Fort Lauderdale, Madeleine Bistro in Los Angeles, and Candle 79 in New York City. He also assisted Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in opening her restaurant, VegiTerranean in Akron, Ohio, in 2007.

While we watched with amazement Tal worked side-by-side with Art Smith and prepared a faux meat dish. I am very excited about tasting Tal's contributions to the LYFE menu. In this carnivorous world where meat normally takes center stage on the plate the vegetarian options are often just a nod by restaurants.  The folks at LYFE Kitchen plan to buck that trend and in a very tasty way.

 Tal completes his "beef-less" tips and vegetable stir fry in a ginger sauce

Although brown rice could be used Tal served his dish over a combination of farro and quinoa grains. These super food grains have had limited exposure mostly in the bulk food isles of health food stores but LYFE Kitchen is about to change that by bringing them into a mainstream restaurant menu as viable choices over more typical starches like potatoes.

I've sung the praises of the LYFE Kitchen culinary team. The other part of the formula which adds up to certain success is their A-List management group. Pictured here are several of the key players performing their very first "forklifting" on the sidewalk in front of their flagship store at 167 Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto.

From the left are: Chef Tal Ronnen, Registered Dietician Karen Knoblaugh, LYFE Kitchen Founder Stephen Sidwell, CEO Mike Roberts, National Mom Advisory Panelist Olympic Swimmer Janet Evans, Dr. Anthony Cardillo , Dr. Armand Dorian and Chef Art Smith.

The Executive Team Line Up at LYFE is heavily loaded with talent and experience.

Mike Roberts, CEO – Former President and COO for McDonald's Corporation
Stephen Sidwell, Founder – CEO of Devante Capital
Mike Donahue, CCO – Former CCO and External Relations Officer for McDonald's Corporation
Matt Yahes, VP of Strategy and Execution, Restaurants
Todd Buchanan, VP Planning and Execution
Adrienne Weiss, Brand Strategist Consultant

What surprises and excites me the most is the part of their mission statement to emphasize local food sources. Although it has become a bit of a cliche at the high end restaurants nobody in the mainstream QSR world is dedicating themselves to local sourcing like LYFE. One such supplier of organic local produce we met was David Tuttle of Jacob Farms whose packaged herb products have been a staple in the produce drawers of my refrigerator for years.

David offered samples of produce, herbs and edible flowers from Jacob Farms

My parting shot is of a colorful bouquet of baby bell peppers that brightened this happy event. This whole LYFE Kitchen project just feels right. The time has come for affordable, healthy, food from responsibly sourced ingredients to be tasty and accessible to the masses. If anyone can pull this off, it is the people behind LYFE Kitchen. They also have big plans to bring their brand into supermarkets. They will expand to a neighborhood near you where you can love your food everyday and I cannot wait to see that happen. Their debut in Palo Alto, California is set for this August. The future for LYFE is as bright as this bouquet of baby bells!

Accompanying me on this fantastic Forklifting event was my fellow foodie friend, Stacie Tamaki.  To see her post of the festivities on The Flirty Blog just click here.

May Food Excursion: Best of the East Bay – Volume 1

 

Cheddar Cheese Grits with Tomatoes, Chiles and Onions

When my fellow foodie friend, Stacie Tamaki, and I started discussing an East Bay Day I thought it might be a stretch. But after just a few hours on what amounted to just a couple of streets I realized we had truly hit a goldmine on the Oakland/Berkeley border not far from the U.C. campus.

So we set off to arrive early enough for some of the morning specialties upon which Aunt Mary's Cafe is making a name for itself. This food is breakfast centric and was featured on The Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins Dives. It was their signature dish called Southern Bubble and Squeak that had me from hello. The menu lists four dishes under the heading of Designer Eggs and they are not kidding. Bubble and Squeak features two perfectly poached (or anyway you want them cooked) eggs perched on top of mashed potato pancakes and smothered in pot likker gravy which is made from the drippings of the spicy collard greens. If that isn't enough flavor overload already, it is served with a giant fresh scratch made biscuit. This photo really speaks for itself.

The more I ate, the better it looked (and tasted!) as this closer in shot reveals below.

Southern Bubble and Squeak with Poached Eggs, Spicy Collard Greens and Biscuit

We also tried the cheesy grits with roma tomatoes you saw in my first photo above. We thought this dish was going to be a small side but we were completely wrong. It could have stood alone as a main entree for any breakfast, brunch or lunch. Oddly enough we just had some of the biscuit left over to go dipping into the cheese-a-licious grits. Just tasting a bite of this breakfast is not an option. It took a lot of will power not to finish every delicious bite to save room for all of the food ahead.

Casual and comfortable is the word in this college town and Aunt Mary's Cafe is no exception. Milk bottles and Mason jars are on every table for hydration. They are open only for breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Sunday and offer brunch specials on the weekends.

One of many spots here that have a kind of cool college vibe.

A MUST try for breakfast, lunch or brunch.

Our next stop was right up the street at Bake Sale Betty. This place is so popular that it defies common sense advertising, marketing and promotion practices like having a sign on the building. But when you have a line down the block of people waiting to grab your lunch special who needs a sign? Do you get the feeling that outside-the-box might be the method of operation here? Just for starters they have a line of festive colored ironing boards for dining outside. Very Berkeley but also very cool. And then there's the food. Many of these folks are lined up for one incredible chicken sandwich. Inside I took a few photos of the assembly line cranking them out to meet the huge lunch rush.

 

It all begins with this crispy slaw of cabbage, jalapenos, red onion and parsley.

 

An assembly line makes for quick order filling of these popular sandwiches.


Buttermilk Fried Chicken and the slaw fill a fresh soft roll...That's all.

We opted for the vegetarian version of the sandwich. They took a generous portion of tofu and fried it in the same buttermilk batter as the chicken. It was superb and the closest thing to an actual fried chicken breast I have ever eaten. It had no mayo, mustard or secret sauce of any type but the flavors exploded.

This bite was my favorite of the entire East Bay Food Day.

Oh yeah, and what about the bake sale? Obviously, everything was made from scratch like this chocolate chip cookie we felt obligated to taste. After all, it is first and foremost a bakery even though they are cranking out some really tasty lunch food too.

Next on our agenda was called Gather. Gather sits on the ground floor of a rather tall modern building

so your first impression looking up is rather grand. It's not the type of setting where you'd expect to find an organic natural foods restaurant.

However, inside the vibe and food is just as earthy as you would expect with warm colors and an inviting open kitchen. The pizza oven is central to the action and cranks out their very popular pies.

We had heard that the Kale "Caesar" Salad was one of their specialties. It had roasted carrots, crispy capers, breadcrumbs, a faux "parmesan" cheese made with almonds and nori. It was both vegan and gluten free but full of flavor.

Kale "Caesar" Salad

We also shared an open faced sandwich which topped a slice of toasted bread with a spicy chick pea spread, sauteed Hen of the Woods mushrooms and melted cheese. It was spicy, rich and satisfying. We simply could not finish it all but Stacie always comes prepared with to-go containers and I packed an ice chest in the car.

Our final destination was Alice Waters' world famous Chez Panisse for dessert in their upstairs cafe.
This stop was our very first monthly food tour destination that required a reservation. Although completely understated everything about this place is right from the very first impression you get at the entrance. Their reputation that precedes them is completely deserved.

We ordered our own desserts and I chose the Walnut-ricotta cake with orange honey coulis and vanilla cream. Stacie honed right in on the Crimson rhubarb tart with ginger ice cream. To see her choice and hear all about her version of our day in the East Bay click here.

Walnut-Ricotta Cake with Orange Honey Coulis and Vanilla Cream

Our server was named Colleen who was super friendly and engaging. Forget the fact that we just ordered dessert. She was giving us the kind of experience you would expect at a restaurant of this caliber. She took lots of time to explain the desserts and made all kinds of suggestions. When we did not opt for her favorite, the Stracciatella Ice Cream with chocolate streaks, caramel sauce and candied pecans she even brought us a complimentary sample to taste. That's Chez Panisse for you. When she found out that we were bloggers, she invited us for a kitchen tour. I have been in my fair share of commercial kitchens but I have never seen one like Chez Pannise and their cafe. I got an instant sense of calmness, competence and confidence from the chefs at work. Both the decor and demeanor fit the reputation of this culinary icon.

Chez Panisse chefs prep for this evening's dinner.

Colleen gave us a tour of the entire Chez Panisse facility which was originally a residence. This next photo is of the employee's break room which is not really a room but a beautiful outdoor patio. Even their break area is in keeping with the very cool vibe there. Exceptional is really the best way to describe the whole Chez Panisse experience.

 

Employee Break Area

Feeling more than satisfied we headed home but felt compelled to visit one more East Bay famous food spot called The Berkeley Bowl.

Famous For Food...A Local Legend of a Grocery Store

It might not be the largest grocery store in the world but it is certainly the best stocked especially when it comes to produce. I have never seen selection like this anywhere. My first two photos are of just the apples alone.

One side of the apple section.

Turning 180 degrees for the other side of the apple section.

Stacie was amazed at the selection of eggplant. She counted the twelve different varieties. I couldn't even name them all but managed to capture them in this one photo.

A different eggplant for each of The Twelve Days of Christmas

In produce heaven it was impossible to pick my favorite section but these exotic Asian and Hispanic fruits were right up there near the top. Having all of these unique ingredients in one place is really a rarity. It's like putting every ethnic grocery store under one roof.

This food excursion far exceeded my expectations. In just a short distance we not only enjoyed exceptional food but we also passed by dozens of likely places for next time. I expected to cover the East Bay in a day but we only covered the tip of the iceberg. There will be a next time because this area is loaded with unique food destinations of all kinds and I am already eager for our return engagement. Stay tuned for Volume 2.

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More Food Adventures:

January - The Eats of San Francisco:
February - A Tasty Tour of Santa Cruz
March - The Cowgirl Creamery
April - Confessions of a Sushi Virgin
May - Best of the East Bay
June - Palo Alto Eateries
July - Cheap Eats & Secret Menus

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Dono dal Cielo Debuts Four New Wines at The Chef's Table

Last week I had great timing while in Sacramento for a two day golf tournament. My in-laws had planned a winemaker's dinner at one of my favorite area eateries The Chef's Table in Rocklin. What was the occasion? The release of four new wines from Dono dal Cielo.

The Chef's Table is the brainchild of Chef David Hill and a perfect place for a winemaker's dinner. They call themselves a "Market Fresh Bistro and Wine Bar" and they are always serving up tasty small plates that make for perfect sharing and pairing. I have never eaten there without sampling a half dozen menu items and multiple pours. They often run out of items because everything is made from scratch and based on ingredient availability. However, disappointment is never a factor because the crew at The Chef's Table are adept at preparing and innovating. They can think on their feet and cook accordingly so whatever they serve reflects it. Sometimes The Chef's Table almost makes me feel like I am dining at a culinary academy because of Chef Hill's flexibility and spontaneity. It seems like we are forever making substitution requests to test wine pairings and our suggestions are not only taken in stride but our expectations exceeded. To see Chef David Hill's impressive culinary background which includes teaching at Cordon Bleu College in Sacramento click here.

As an example of this spontaneous deliciousness The Chef's Table is known for we were greeted with a crostini appetizer with goat cheese smear that wasn't even included on our special winemaker menu. Chef David's little surprise starter paired beautifully with our first wine of the evening, the new 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.

I could have easily made a meal out of these tasty little toasties but I restrained knowing very well that a host of more great offerings awaited me from this tiny boutique bistro.

Crostini Close Up

Our first official course came in the form of a Thai Green Papaya Salad with Grilled Red Curry Salmon. Both the portion and big flavor of this dish was so satisfying that I almost hesitate calling it a small plate. The papaya had a nice crunchy texture and the red curry perfectly complimented the salmon without taking over. It was a natural segue from the crostinis as they continued to pour the Sauv Blanc.

Thai Green Salad topped with Grilled Red Curry Salmon

The next course was a beautiful seafood bisque made with Shrimp and Scallops. Wine #2 was their second vintage of Chardonnay 2008.

We then moved into the new 2010 Ta Rosé for a Grilled Spring Onion Panzanilla Salad with Roasted Beets and Strawberry Vinaigrette. This bread salad was hearty and could stand alone in a larger size as an entree itself. Grilling the spring onions and roasting the beets added serious earthy goodness tossed with the sweet berry dressing.

Grilled Spring Onion Panzanilla Salad with Roasted Beets

The signature wine of Dono da Cielo is their Zinfandel. Here Braum on the left and Joe keep both the 2007 and the brand new 2008 Zins flowing as we headed into the main course of the dinner.

There was nothing small about the plate or flavors of the main course, Pork Loin Saltimbocca. It was full entree size and served with a Roasted Potato Salad, Pesto Oil and Tomato Fondue. As you can see the colorful presentation was as impressive as it was actually delicious.

Pork Lion Saltimbocca Entree

To cap things off we finished the evening with Chocolate Espresso Cake, Blackberry coulis and Candied Pecans paired with Late Harvest Zinfandel Port.

Chocolate Cake, Coulis and Candied Pecan Conclusion!

The vibe at The Chef's Table is both bustling and intimate at the same time. There is seldom enough space for the crowds who line up every night to be there but that creates a buzz and spontaneous chatter among the tables. Meeting and greeting the other patrons is almost unavoidable. The food and wine sharing/pairing along with the staff's expert suggestions just brings the whole experience together. This wide room shot really shows the open kitchen and bar seating which is a focal point.

Open Kitchen with bar seating is the hub of the action at The Chef's Table

Fred (left) with Chef Hill and Sweet Lou (right)

My favorite seat in house is right at the bar where I can watch the cooks do their thing in a very open kitchen. Reservations for dinner are highly suggested but they are now also open for lunch Tuesday through Friday. 916-771-5656 or online.

My parting shot is of Dono dal Cielo's Director of Sales, Hunter McGillivray (left) and Chef David Hill hamming it up for me at the end of a very successful winemaker's dinner to debut four new wines. This evening paired some really good food and wine. It also paired two small boutique purveyors of food and wine who excel at their crafts by keeping it handcrafted. You have to look hard to find The Chef's Table tucked away in a strip mall in Rocklin.  Dono dal Cielo Vineyards is definitely off the beaten path on a Newcastle country road you won't find near any freeway exit. However, if both these brands continue to deliver as they have been, they will no longer be two of the best kept culinary and viticulture secrets in the greater Capital City area.

April Food Excursion: Confessions of a Sushi Virgin

Most foodies by definition have a fairly open mind, willing taste buds and are adventurous when it comes to trying new bites. However, I have never warmed up to eating any protein that has not had at least some heat applied to it. I know, it is practically anti-American to not be on the sushi bandwagon. I suspect that we are now eating more sushi here than they do in Japan. So what happens when everyone wants to go out and grab some sushi? I usually just tag along and opt for the steamed white rice and tempura platter.

When my foodie friend, Stacie Tamaki, and I were discussing where this month's food excursion should be we instantly got onto the subject of sushi. She was bit surprised that I am not big on sushi but also pleased that my mind was open to exploring other areas of Japanese cuisine. After all, Stacie is a Japanese American and passionate for food so she is well qualified to help me explore and expand on this food genre. We both prefer to eat less meat so we are a logical pairing in this quest for discovering great vegetarian Japanese cuisine.

Adding to our advantage is the plethora of Asian restaurants right here in Silicon Valley. We began our journey at one of the area's nicest Japanese restaurants called Mizu.


Mizu sits right on busy Winchester Boulevard on the border of Campbell and San Jose but as soon as you enter the inviting decor transcends you to a happy place. Everything about this restaurant is right. The lighting, furnishings, signage, staff and, of course, the food. We started off with their complimentary miso soup which was a surprise and very nice touch.


Stacie was most eager for me to try their Agedashi Tofu. For me tofu is tricky. Because it is light on flavor the texture is everything and sometimes it just doesn't cut it. At Mizu they delicately deep fry it so there it is perfectly crispy on the outside. It was a generous portion served in a savory broth and so satisfying it could have been a whole meal by itself.


Our excursion was just beginning with much more food ahead so we had only one other dish at Mizu called Wakame or Seaweed Salad. It was bright, crunchy and had a tasty sesame dressing that perfected complemented the seaweed.


Our next stop was at the Campbell location of a Santa Clara County three store restaurant chain called Kazoo.


Even though I've shied away from sushi I admit the concept of sushi boat service is brilliant. How much fun is it to watch the flotilla of little boats parade by you with all of those morsels tempting you to help yourself?


Stacie ordered a couple of vegetarian rolls (Maki) shown here. We enjoyed the Umekyu (plum) and Cucumber (front) and also Oshinko which is pickled Daikon radish on the blue plate. They were a great combination of a little sweet Daikon and the really tart Umekyu.


I chose the "Santa Cruz" which was a tempura shrimp in the center of a maki roll topped with avocado. A generous side of Wasabi and Ginger was served at each place setting.


Japanese chefs take a lot of pride in presentation. The attention to detail is superb. It is almost impossible not to eat with your eyes first. Obviously a lot of care and dexterity went into crafting these Santa Cruz rolls. The extra step of using a tempura cooked shrimp in the roll was especially appealing to me because I really do love the spirit of this food but still prefer not to eat raw fish. I was surprised to learn there are cooked options available in sushi dining at I love that choice.


The folks at Kazoo definitely have a sense of humor and slip in a few unexpected treats on their boats. For the record we did not partake in the chocolate cake but rather just enjoyed watching it float by.


Our next stop was to hit Japantown. San Jose is home to one of only three Japantowns in the United States. Our first stop was for ramen. Unfortunately, the popularity of packaged Top Ramen on the grocery shelf is what so often comes to mind first. Fortunately, Stacie knew exactly where to go for ramen that is the real deal. Kumako Ramen is right in the heart of Japantown and is where you go when you want a ramen experience. As this picture of our vegetarian ramen tells the whole story. This ramen is neither your grocery nor garden variety. The portion was huge. The broth was super savory and I will return here just to enjoy a whole bowl of this by myself for lunch. It is totally satisfying but also feels like a healthy choice.


Great ramen is not the only thing you find at Kumako Ramen. They are also known for their Una Don which is broiled eel on top of rice with ginger and a special sauce. It tasted like it just came off a wood fired grill and I noticed every other customer had ordered it too. It was so tender that it kind of reminded me of slow cooked pork that would just fall off the bone.


The perfect side dish with Una Don is the Daikon salad with carrots. It is cool and crunchy like a nice slaw with a savory miso dressing.


Anyone still have room for dessert? Stacie's plan to round off our Japantown experience was right next door at Shuei-Do Manju Shop.


Manju is a popular Japanese confection. There are many varieties but most of them are made from flour, rice and buckwheat on the outside and have a filling made from azuki beans and sugar inside. The texture is crazy good. It is like eating a big soft jelly bean. Although you can get them in Japanese specialty markets and on-line none compare to the made-from-scratch fresh version sold here at Shuei-Do.


The only thing left to do at this point was to hit the streets of Japantown and walk off all that incredible food we just ate. Stacie had yet another really cool place to show me called Nikaku Japanese Arts.


Nikaku is tucked around the corner from the main drag so it is easy to miss but it is also full of great art objects and gifts. If you are looking for something truly unique that definitely does not say "chain store", Nikaku is the place.


I bought this really cool "dual" vase and knew that it would be the perfect memento of my day of Japanese cuisine and culture.


Big thanks go out to Stacie Tamaki for a great education on Japanese food. With the current crisis in Japan it was especially nice to sample the cuisine and support the local Japantown merchants. Although I am far from becoming an aficionado I have certainly expanded my taste buds and appreciation of the cuisine. My parting shot at Kazoo Sushi Boat really says it all. It's sushi o'clock somewhere.

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More Food Adventures:

January - The Eats of San Francisco:
February - A Tasty Tour of Santa Cruz
March - The Cowgirl Creamery
April - Confessions of a Sushi Virgin
May - Best of the East Bay
June - Palo Alto Eateries
July - Cheap Eats & Secret Menus

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