True Food Kitchen refreshed and launched their new spring menu and it’s delightful. I had the opportunity to try some basically all of the new items and it was amazing. True Food Kitchen is one of those amazing super healthy, edgy restaurants that’s somehow infiltrated the steak house heavy business sector of the Galleria. It probably helps that it shares a parking lot with Whole Foods and other trendy spots like North Italia, Peska Seafood Kitchen and Elaine Turner in One Boulevard Place.
True Food Kitchen has always been on my radar because its crazy vegetarian/vegan friendly. I went to brunch there a few years ago when it first opened (before the blog was big and I got media invites) and fell in love. The menu is chock full of anti-inflammatory ingredients and even the most unhealthy thing on the menu (key lime pie?) is vegan and probably has more antioxidants than your sad desk salad. All the plates on the menu are heavy on the vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and light on the protein and dairy– which is a total 180 to the we-have-the-meats mentality that is so prevalent in common American diets.
You know the menu is a winner because even after stuffing myself and tasting like 2038209485 menu items, I still felt energized and invigorated. I wasn’t about to fall into an incapacitating food coma after lunch. Since all the ingredients are light and full of life, I felt more like I had detoxed than overate. Here are some of my thoughts on the new spring menu.
What I’m Ordering Again
- Roasted Artichoke Pizza: Who doesn’t love pizza? This one is so good, you won’t even realize you’re eating vegan almond ricotta! Pro tip: get some tzatziki sauce on the side to dip your crust in.
- Beet Bruschetta: This dish is far too good to be shared. The portion size is moderate, essentially one piece of toast topped with golden beets, vegan almond ricotta and crunchy pomegranates. I’ve have two thanks.
- Cauliflower: I love cauliflower and this dish was packed with tahini and fresh herbs. Next time I go back, I’ll probably order tapas style and get a bunch of the vegetable sides (like this one!!) because they truly standout.
- Honey Lemonade: Sweet and refreshing. I’m inspired to make a version of this at home now!
- Hangover: Classic refresher juice that came back. I had it back at brunch and I was excited to try it again.
- Chia Cherry: Definitely one of my favorites of the drinks — sweet taste with cherries.
- Key Lime Pie: It’s vegan. *drops mic*
- Sea Buckthorn Sorbet: The buckthorn strikes again! Along with a fancier version of cherries.
New Items to Look Out For
- Torched Avocado: Beautiful vegetable side with cucumber noodles and topped with a unique white soy sauce.
- Seasonal Ingredient Salad: Ambiguous name with surprising ingredients. Apparently previous iterations of this dish didn’t have cheese OR lettuce. So I’m curious as to what it was before…
- Poke Bowl: This trendy af entre has infiltrated its way onto the True Food’s Kitchen menu as well! They made me a vegetarian version. TBH my personal palate likes a bit more spice and flavor, but it was light and pleasant dish.
- Medicine Man Refresher: This juice tea is packed with trendy power foods like sea buckthorn, pomegranate, and blueberry.
- Kale Aide Refresher: This one tastes like
grass
- Farmer’s Market Crudite: By far the prettiest items on the menu. Perfect for your friend who’s trying to emulate Fully Raw Kristina. The black olive dip is everything.
Not only was the servers super speedy and wildly knowledgeable about all the items on the menu, but the cooking and preparation staff is super attentive to allergies. They’re experts at anyone who can’t do something as big as grains or wheat to as little as avocado or soy. You can be sure that your gluten-free pizza has its own special rack in the oven and your vegetarian sauté is on a completely separate grill from the meat and fish. True Foods Kitchen is very open about their prep methods and cooking process, as emulated by the transparent glass that lets visitors see into the kitchen.