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How True Food Kitchen reimagined its menu with a focus on hyper-seasonality and comfort

Head chef Matthew Padilla introduced more than 30 new dishes to appeal to a broader audience while staying true to the brand’s original wellness mission.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

July 13, 2023

Matthew Padilla, culinary director for True Food Kitchen, joined the full-service restaurant group last year and quickly started innovating the menu. This spring, he introduced over 30 new dishes, incorporating hyper-seasonal ingredients and inventive global flavors, with an updated summer menu close behind.

Matthew Padilla

Matthew Padilla

To appeal to a broader audience, he transformed comfort-food favorites like burgers, pizza and pasta with healthier twists. Padilla also refreshed menu staples, including bowls, salads and desserts, to be in sync with the seasons—all the while staying true to True Food’s original wellness, sustainability and ethical sourcing mission.

Listen as the chef relates his fine-dining culinary journey, shares his menu innovation strategy and talks about what’s next for 43-location True Food Kitchen.

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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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