Business & Tech

PHOTOS: Lyfe Kitchen Debuts Food at Costco

Chef John Mitchell visited the Aol Palo Alto office to give Patch editors a taste of a healthy "lyfestyle."

Eating just got a little more affordable, healthy, tasty and convenient, Palo Alto restaurant Lyfe Kitchen hopes.

The restaurant, dedicated to healthy, affordable dining, introduced its chef-inspired retail products in 20-select Costco locations throughout the Bay Area, and Redwood City, last week and looks to expand nationally.

Lyfe Kitchen Founder Stephen Sidwell said the restaurant partnered with Costco because of the broad demographic that it serves. It hopes to expand into other markets like Safeway, Kroger and others in the near future.

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"We believe we can truly make a difference in the food industry," Sidwell said. "You can have great tasting food that’s healthy and filling."

The Lyfe Kitchen team took over two years to perfect recipes, said Sidwell. But first he had to assemble a world-class team of chefs, health experts and athletes, including Oprah’s former Chef Art Smith; former Golden State Warriors basketball player Derek Fisher; and New York Times bestseller and health director, Mark Hyman.

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The soups, typically laden with hundreds of grams of sodium and cream, have no more than 20 percent of the daily recommended intake of sodium.

"We’re not going to fall back on sodium for taste," Sidwell said.

Rather than the heavy creams and butter in soups like bisque, the dishes use almond milk or other natural ingredients. The preservative free dishes also have pronounceable ingredients. 

The cost of these products? A mere $10.49 for bulk packages of soup, or $1.73 per serving.  

The restaurant has also spoken with Whole Foods about stocking the retail market’s shelves with their products. They also plan to open an online store as well.

To leave a minimal footprint on the environment, Lyfe Kitchen also prides itself on its "green mission," to reduce the amount of waste that remains after the meal. The packaging uses 70 percent less than average packaging and is all recyclable.

Lyfe Kitchen brought its "road show" to the Costcto Mountain View to give potential customers, or current patrons to the restaurant, a try to also taste the new refridgerated food.

A woman, shared she thought the turkey white bean soup was a little bland, but was going to try other options.

One man told Patch that his he learned about Lyfe from my accountant, who lost an entire body weight eating at the restaurant.

"I am trying to avoid restaurant food," he said after trying the samples. "And if I eat anywhere it will be there."


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