New eateries to open at Stanford Shopping Center

Stanford Shopping Center announced this week a slew of new stores and restaurants slated to open in the spring of 2016 as part of a massive redevelopment at the popular, upscale Palo Alto mall.

The building that used to house Bloomingdales has been completely demolished and is being rebuilt to accommodate 25 retailers, including one bakery/cafe and three restaurants. Read below for more details on each.

True Food Kitchen: True Food Kitchen is a health-forward restaurant chain with a diverse menu friendly to vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free diners alike — though “you don’t have to be a die-hard Yogi to dine” there, the restaurant’s website quips. Think kale salad, gluten-free tacos, spaghetti squash casserole, butternut squash pizza (the dough is made in-house with spelt and flax seed), turkey burger and more.

Carnivores/non kale-salad lovers: Don’t despair. Items like braised short rib, teriyaki rice bowl and a bison burger will save you.

A rendering of a renovated entrance into the Stanford Shopping Center from El Camino Real, with new restaurant True Food Kitchen in the back left. Courtesy Simon Property Group.

In 2008, a holistic-health doctor teamed up with a restaurateur to open the first True Food Kitchen in Phoenix, Arizona, serving dishes based on an anti-inflammatory diet. All True Food Kitchens also use local, organic ingredients whenever possible.

Other True Food Kitchen locations serve lunch and dinner as well as brunch, plus cocktails, wine and beer. The Stanford outpost — which clocks in at 7,000 square feet — will be the chain’s first Bay Area location.

Tender Greens: Tender Greens is a farm-to-table chain (yes, those two words can go together) that serves salads, sandwiches, main dishes, soups, desserts and daily specials all made with ingredients “fresh picked daily,” primarily from one farm, Tender Greens investor Scarborough Farms in Oxnard, according to the restaurant’s website. The menu varies from location to location, but includes “big plates” like grilled steak, chipotle-barbecue chicken and herb-brushed albacore (which can also be served on sandwiches or salads); “big salads” like a Chinese chicken, tuna nicoise and salami and kale; soups and sides.

A Tender Greens “big” salad with market fish. Photo courtesy Tender Greens.

Each Tender Greens location is led by an executive chef “with a fine dining background and experience cooking at top notch restaurants,” the restaurant’s website reads. No word on who will head the Stanford Shopping Center kitchen yet.

There are almost 20 Tender Greens throughout California, including three in San Francisco. The Stanford location is close to 3,000 square feet and will also feature custom art from local artists, according to the shopping center.

Minamoto Kitchoan: Minamoto Kitchoan is an international chain that serves “wagashi,” or traditional Japanese confections like mochi, cookies stuffed with red-bean paste and layered sponge cake. Minamoto Kitchoan’s desserts are made from “healthy” ingredients: red beans, kidney beans, glutinous rice, powdered rice, sweet potatoes, sesame, agar-agar and natural, unrefined sugar. The company operates 11 locations in seven countries across the globe, including in San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore (where the first store opened in 1993), Taipei and Hong Kong. Check out the San Francisco location’s Yelp to get a better idea of their goods.

Pink Posy: Pink Posy peddles delicately decorated cakes, cookies and cupcakes as well as specialty cakes (weddings, baby showers, birthdays, etc.). The company’s first brick-and-mortar location at Stanford will also serve “wholesome light fare made with all-natural and organic ingredients,” sandwiches, seasonal soups and salads; handmade pastries and coffee. New cakes to debut at the Palo Alto store will include layered cakes and buttercream. All Pink Posy cakes are available for in-store pickup as well as delivery.