A letter from our chef:
Last year was a big year for all of us here at Mendocino Farms. We opened 13 new locations, including two in Seattle, our newest market, and extended our reach further up the Pacific Northwest. We took great delight in sharing our craveable salads and sandwiches with over 13 million guests. We created a record number of tasty new recipes and saw a record number of them join the greatest hits on our menu, including the Chicken Parm Dip, The Happy Hippie sandwich, Italian Roast Beef sandwich, Turkey Avo Salsa Verde sandwich, and Pomegranate Mint Lemonade. The year of 2023 was a tasty one indeed!
So here we are kicking off 2024, with even loftier and tastier ambitions in mind. That said, let’s take it one step at a time. Starting with an introduction to the new menu items we created for our New Year Menu, which will take us through winter, with New Years resolutions in tow, and right up to the edge of Spring.
Throughout 2023, we fielded a ton of guest requests to add more plant-based options to the menu. We quickly responded with The Happy Hippie, our modern take on a loaded vintage veggie sandwich. However, we didn’t stop there. We discovered a cutting edge mushroom-based protein, called Fable, which blew our minds with its meaty texture and umami flavor, and it instantly became the inspiration for our new Philly Shroomsteak sandwich. As you can probably imagine, this sandwich is a riff on a classic Philly Cheesesteak, but with meaty mushroom protein instead of steak, making it a healthier version! The melted plant-based American cheese adds a key ooey-gooey factor. It’s topped with roasted peppers & onions that are slightly caramelized, and my favorite condiment, Chicago style Marconi giardiniera, which provides a hit of acidity, crunch, and a little bit of heat, depending on your choice of hot or mild, which all helps to balance out the richness of the sandwich. We have done extensive testing with this sandwich, and it consistently garnered rave reviews and, frankly, astonishment at the delicious, meaty flavor and texture of this plant based sandwich. I’m personally very excited about this innovative sandwich and can’t wait for you to give it a try!
THE PHILLY SHROOMSTEAK (vegan)
Naturally meaty Fable shiitake steak, roasted red peppers & sweet onions, choice of hot or mild giardiniera, plant-based American cheese, green peppercorn aioli on a toasted sesame roll
Some of you may recognize the next one. We set out to create a new salad that would be very approachable, with familiar flavors, that could be a safe bet for salad lovers. We ended up revamping an old favorite that we reluctantly removed from the menu a few years back, the Sophisticated Chicken & Prosciutto Salad, aka Sophi. The new version has a couple vegetable upgrades and is now called Farmer’s Market Pesto Salad. Additionally, we restructured it to be vegetarian, and believe this salad is craveable as is but guests have the option to add chicken or prosciutto.
FARMER’S MARKET PESTO SALAD (vegetarian, gluten-free, contains nuts)
fresh mozzarella, marinated red peppers, Kumato tomatoes, carrots, red onions, honey roasted almonds, chopped romaine, mixed greens with bail pesto vinaigrette
We were long overdue for adding a fun and exciting new item to the Kids Menu, so we came up with a Pepperoni Pizza Melt.
PEPPERONI PIZZA MELT
pepperoni, melted mozzarella, and pizza sauce on brioche
For the deli case, we will be bringing back the Spicy Dijon Potato Salad, and also adding a very addictive, hearty, cheesy, and nutrient dense version of a Chopped Italian. It’s loaded with chickpeas instead of delicate lettuces, which gets better over time as it marinates in the very classic Italian dressing. I’m already looking forward to this one becoming my go to afternoon snack.
CHOPPED ITALIAN CHICKPEA SALAD (gluten-free)
marinated artichokes, pepperoni, Mama Li’s sweet hot peppers, grape tomatoes, chickpeas, kale, radicchio, red onion, parmesan, Italian dressing
SPICY DIJON POTATO SALAD (vegan, gluten-free)
uniquely creamy smashed potato salad with a kick!
For our seasonal soup selection, we have two new ones. The Thai Sweet Potato Soup is a new & improved version of our beloved Thai Butternut Squash Soup. We added a touch of almond butter and bumped up the umami factor. It’s a delightfully big flavor soup with a velvety pureed consistency. I loved the original version of this adventurous soup, and I love this one even more! The Turkey Sausage & Kale Soup is a hearty, savory soup that’s loaded with turkey sausage, veggies, kale, and parm. It’s perfect for soothing the soul in the colder months.
THAI SWEET POTATO SOUP (vegan, gluten-free, contains nuts)
a puree of sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, shallots, coconut milk, lime, Thai red curry, ginger, lemongrass, almond butter
TURKEY SAUSAGE & KALE SOUP
a hearty blend of turkey sausage, kale, vegetables, brown rice, beans & parmesan cheese
I hope you enjoy all the tastes of the upcoming season. We can’t wait for you to dig in & EAT HAPPY!
Chef Jeremy Bringardner
