Former McD's Execs & Oprah Chef Bring Lyfe to NorCal

What do you get when two former McDonald’s executives, Oprah’s former private chef, Art Smith and New York Times bestselling vegan cookbook author Tal Ronnen get together to do something socially responsible? You get an acronym, LYFE, for Love Your Food Everyday promoting "convenient, affordable and good for you" food. A 3,500 square feet realization of the motto will surface in Palo Alto this summer in restaurant form. Lyfe Kitchen will move into the former BriteSmile Teeth Whitening Spa on Hamilton Avenue.

But there's also the brand extensions, the t-shirts, the mugs, the impending NorCal expansion and talk of 250 Lyfe Kitchen restaurants opening around the country in the next five years. All eco-friendly build-out, packaging materials and lo-cal versions of comfort food like burgers and fries, this really couldn't be all that bad. Although vegansaurus! notes some of their messaging may need a Bay Area tweak. More details on all of this as the opening approaches.

· Lyfe Kitchen business plan [SF Biz Times]
· Lyfe Kitchen to enter restaurant mix with healthy eating at its core [Chicago Tribune]
· Lyfe Kitchen: Tal Ronnen, Art Smith, and a couple of dudes who used to work for McDonald’s want you to eat their healthy food [vegansaurus!]