Scottsdale's True Food Kitchen has whipped up a culinary collaboration with none other than Grammy-award winning artist SZA, delivering a fresh take on their Kale Caesar Salad – dubbed the SZA CZA Salad. True Food Kitchen, an eatery with a focus on healthy, fresh fare, is no stranger to celebrity endorsements, having received an investment from Oprah Winfrey in 2018. However, this marks their first direct menu collaboration with a celebrity, thanks to an Instagram DM from SZA, fresh off her Super Bowl LIX halftime performance with Kendrick Lamar, as reported by ABC15.
The collaboration started when SZA reached out to the restaurant, lamenting the absence of her favorite salad from the seasonally-rotating menu. "That's when SZA reached out to us and said, ‘Like, oh my gosh, I'm a huge fan.’ She was in Chicago at the time and had been eating the salad almost every day from our Chicago restaurant," Daniella Voysey Olson, Chief Growth Officer at True Food Kitchen, told the Business Journal. SZA's public request, conveyed through an Instagram post captioned "It's 4 am and all I can think about is @livetruefood kale caesar salad that they took off the menu. Please bring it back justice for the kale caesar. I'll do anything," spurred the collaboration into motion.
The reimagined SZA CZA Salad incorporates the songwriter's preferred flavors, including organic kale, cherry tomatoes, avocado, scallions, and crunchy rosemary garlic croutons, with modifications like replacing traditional anchovy-laden Caesar dressing with a parmesan-heavy version accented by black garlic for added umami taste – a change that makes the dish vegetarian-friendly. "It's great because then it's also vegetarian-friendly," Head Chef Matt Padilla explained in an interview with the Business Journal. On top of the flavor, there's also a philanthropic aspect, as the company has pledged 20% of the proceeds from sales of the SZA CZA Salad to go to Suprmarkt, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that works to bring affordable, fresh, and organic food into food deserts, according to information from ABC15.
"True Food Kitchen has the best dressing," SZA said in her statement to the Business Journal. After urging the company to bring back the Kale Caesar Salad, SZA highlighted the importance of year-round access to healthy organic meals and produce. The SZA CZA Salad is now seed oil-free and available at all 46 locations of True Food Kitchen across 18 states, with the company seizing the opportunity to revitalize not just a beloved menu item but also to support communities with limited access to organic food options.
