True Food Kitchen's Summer Menu Brings a Fresh Take on Summer Classics

New menu features modern twists on nostalgic summertime favorites, made with responsibly sourced, seasonal ingredients

PHOENIX, July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- True Food Kitchen, the award-winning, chef-led, seasonally-driven restaurant brand, today rolled out its new summer menu across its 44 locations nationwide. The menu reimagines summertime's most classic dishes and drinks, made with ingredients sourced at peak freshness to ensure each bite is bursting with bright, bold and refreshing flavors. True Food Kitchen's culinary team has transformed these ingredients into creative takes on familiar favorites, with each dish designed to taste as great as it makes guests feel.

"With our new menu, we leaned into nostalgic summer dishes—think root beer floats, BBQ chicken sandwiches, and street corn—and added a True Food Kitchen spin, incorporating purposefully and precisely sourced ingredients," says True Food Kitchen's vice president of culinary, Matthew Padilla. "From the starters to desserts, brunch to dinner, our intention is to take taste buds on a trip to summers of the past, all while energizing and uplifting our guests."

Highlights from the summer menu include:

• Among the new starters is the Street Corn Flatbread—made with True Food Kitchen's house-made dough, topped with crème fraiche, roasted corn, pickled onions, cilantro and Tajín—inspired by 'elote', a traditional Mexican street food that perfectly satisfies warm-weather cravings.
• A guest favorite—the Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Salad—makes its return with a flavorful twist on two classic summer staples. The dish offers crisp and tangy bites of multicolored heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, Peruvian cucumbers, and Marcona almonds, tossed in a house-made mango vinaigrette and avocado mousse.
• The TFK Original Chicken Sandwich is made with a brined and grilled chicken breast, brushed with house-made BBQ sauce, topped with kale slaw, pickled red onion and pickled jalapeños, and served on a flaxseed or gluten-free bun. A spin on traditional backyard BBQ sauce, True Food Kitchen's house-made variation is a sweet-yet-spicy blend of blueberry compote and Peruvian hot sauce.
• A new Seared Tuna Tataki entrée is served over fried brown rice & quinoa, asparagus, roasted corn, tataki sauce, roasted mushrooms, gochujang, baru nut and mango chutney, providing a balance between both savory and sweet.
• True Food Kitchen's Kimchi Steak Fried Rice takes forbidden rice sautéed with kimchi, mushroom mix, and edamame, topped with sweety drop peppers, a soft-boiled egg and grass-fed steak. The kimchi is made in part with kelp sourced from Atlantic Sea Farms, a women-run company which grows seaweed in the off-season from fishing, improving the health of the oceans and mitigating effects of climate change.
• Combining many of summer's most bountiful flavors and reminiscent of time spent outdoors, the Garden Pesto Pizza is made with hand-stretched artisan pizza dough, topped with cilantro pumpkin seed pesto, fresh mozzarella, zucchini squash, cherry tomato, red onion, and is finished with arugula and freshly grated grana Padano.
• A better-for-you take on a childhood-favorite summer delight, True Food Kitchen's Root Beer Float is made with OLIPOP root beer—which contains distinct gut-supporting benefits—topped with house-made vegan vanilla ice cream, making the indulgent treat guilt-free.
• The Blueberry Crumble Sundae is made with organic, grass-fed dairy ice cream from Cosmic Bliss, a HumanCo company dedicated to crafting the highest quality, sustainable alternatives to traditional dairy ice creams. It is topped with blueberry compote, Marcona almond-date crumble, and garnished with lemon zest.

OLIPOP, Cosmic Bliss, and Atlantic Sea Farms are a few examples of True Food Kitchen's partners who share its commitment to the sourcing of sustainable, high-quality ingredients. By working with responsible growers, farmers, purveyors, and producers, True Food Kitchen ensures all of its craveable dishes and drinks work to increase the longevity of people and the planet.

On the beverage side, True Food Kitchen has incorporated quintessential summer ingredients such as blueberries, strawberries, and peaches into seasonal cocktails, refreshers, and teas—as creative as they are thirst-quenching. Designed to elicit the familiar feeling of summers spent soaking up the sunshine, True Food Kitchen's new sips include:

• Blueberry Collins: Playing on the popularity of the Collins, this cocktail is made with Prairie Organic vodka, balancing the tartness of blueberries, the acidity of lemon juice, and a splash of rose liqueur to add a touch of sweetness. 
• Fresa Rosado: A take on the classic margarita, the Fresa Rosado is made with Ana Maria Tequila Rosa—blanco tequila distilled with a hint of Cabernet Sauvignon to give it its signature pink hue—paired with the sweetness of strawberries, a squeeze of lime juice, Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur, and topped with Fever-Tree Sparkling Lime & Yuzu.
• Peacemaker: The (peace)Maker's Mark base is mixed with lemon juice, honey and triple-brewed Passport black tea to give this boozy cocktail a kick.
• The Grove: Made with Seedlip Grove, this zero-proof cocktail is brought to life with a splash of lemonade and fresh strawberries.
• Sparkling Peach Tea: Peach yaupon tea is mixed with lemon juice, cane sugar, and sparkling water. The yaupon—a species of holly native to North America—used by True Food Kitchen is sourced from an all-female owned farm in Texas.

Beginning Friday, July 14, to help guests raise a glass to summer, the restaurant will offer 50% off all bottles of wine every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Labor Day weekend (dine-in only). Guests taking advantage of this first-of-its-kind offer can select from True Food Kitchen's expertly curated menu of organic, biodynamic, and sustainable wines.

Those wishing to enjoy the new summer menu in the comfort of their home can order online or through the True Food Kitchen app and enjoy free delivery on orders over $35. For more information and to view the full menu, please visit www.truefoodkitchen.com.

About True Food Kitchen
Founded in Phoenix in 2008, True Food Kitchen is a restaurant and lifestyle brand inspired by the philosophy that food should make you feel better, not worse, and that great-tasting food and thoughtfully crafted beverages can serve as the foundation for a life well-lived. The brand is driven by a passionate collective of accomplished chefs, visionary restaurateurs, and a renowned doctor of integrative medicine who believe delicious dining and conscious nutrition can go hand-in-hand without sacrificing flavor, creativity or indulgence. True Food Kitchen emphasizes wholesome, simple ingredients with thoughtful preparations to highlight the natural health benefits and flavors of each ingredient. From nutrient-dense staples and carefully sourced proteins to little-known superfoods, True Food Kitchen is committed to sourcing the most responsible, creative, and freshest in-season ingredients. The brand has 44 locations in 17 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

SOURCE True Food Kitchen