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True Food Kitchen opens its first Tennessee location on Wednesday, September 26. We got to talk with co-founder Dr. Andrew Weil before the big day about True Food’s history and what it’s like bringing this healthy diet to the land of hot chicken and waffles.
Nashville Lifestyles (NL): What is the background story of True Food and how it started?
Dr. Andrew Weil (AW): It started in Phoenix ten years ago. Over the years, many people told me that I should open a restaurant. I was smart enough to know that I knew nothing about the restaurant business, and it looked like a very tough business, so it never tempted me. But then a mutual friend introduced me to a restaurateur, and I proposed the idea of a restaurant that would serve food that was both delicious and healthy. I cooked for him and his wife, and he liked my food and thought he would give it a try, but he was very skeptical it would work. He found a chef that I was able to work with, and together we came up with a menu. The first restaurant opened in Phoenix, and it was right when the economy tanked, and people said we were crazy to be doing it, but from the moment it opened its doors, it was very successful.
“It’s a unique concept. It’s not complicated. We serve food that looks great and tastes wonderful, and it happens to conform to good nutritional philosophy.”
NL: What exactly is the anti-inflammatory diet?
AW: There’s growing evidence that chronic low-level inflammation is the root cause of most of the chronic diseases that become prevalent as we get older. [Inflammation] is part of the healing response of the body, but if there’s too much of it or doesn’t serve any purpose, it causes illness. Diet is a huge influence, and the mainstream North American diet is very pro-inflammatory. It gives us the wrong kinds of fats, the wrong kinds of carbohydrates, not enough of the protective elements that are mostly in fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. I took the Mediterranean diet as a template because we have a great deal of scientific evidence for the overall benefits of that way of eating, and it’s food that everybody likes. I tweaked it by adding Asian influences to it because I’ve spent a lot of time in Japan and China and am very familiar with Asian medicine. I added things like ginger and turmeric and Asian mushrooms and green tea and came up with this anti-inflammatory eating plan.
NL: What’s it like bringing this anti-inflammatory diet to a city like Nashville?
AW: All I can tell you is that everywhere we’ve been, it’s worked. People said that when we opened restaurants in Texas, they would have a very hard time, and we’re doing very well. I think the thing is that the food just speaks for itself. It’s beautiful, and it tastes great. I’ve heard so many people say that when they get up and leave, they feel good, which is not the usual experience after eating out.
NL: What are you most excited about with the opening of the Green Hills location?
AW: I’m very excited to see how the city responds to it. I think it’ll do well. We can take care of mixed groups where somebody’s vegan, somebody’s a vegetarian, somebody’s gluten-free, somebody eats meat. We have something for everyone. And we’ll modify recipes if somebody says, “Can you do this?” We will. We attract very high-caliber people to work here.
“The restaurant draws people who follow this lifestyle and embody health and wellness. There’s a culture associated with True Food Kitchen that’s very distinctive and very wonderful to be around.”
Vertis Green Hills, 3996 Hillsboro Pk, 615-383-7333; truefoodkitchen.com/nashville