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How Just Salad keeps innovating the menu while advancing its sustainability mission

From scratch-made bowls to next-gen meal kits, Culinary Director Jhonny Castro is differentiating the fast casual. From scratch-made bowls to next-gen meal kits, culinary director Jhonny Castro is differentiating the fast casual.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

March 18, 2021

During the last year, Just Salad continued to prioritize menu innovation: launching warm bowls, introducing marinated chicken thighs as a protein option and creating meal kits for consumers cooking at home.

Jhonny Castro, culinary director of the 42-unit chain, describes his culinary journey from the prep line to head chef, collaborating with the Just Salad team to set the health-focused fast casual apart from its competitors.

Jhonny castro

Jhonny Castro

Listen as he talks about the brand’s sustainability mission and scratch-made offerings, the culinary figures that inspire him and how he plans to evolve the menu as we move through 2021.

Find more episodes of this podcast on Spotify.

About the Author

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Pat plans and executes the menu sections of Restaurant Business and FoodService Director, covering food and beverage trends, Menu R&D, profiles of chefs and restaurateurs and Technomic research. She also contributes to the digital content of both RB and FSD and is editor of two weekly e-newsletters, Recipe Report and On the Menu. Pat’s weekly podcast, MenuFeed, covers a wide range of menu topics through interviews with chefs and operators.

Pat came to Winsight from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.

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