UC San Diego is getting a Goop Kitchen at the center of campus.
The California restaurant chain, founded by actress-turned-health mogul Gwyneth Paltrow, is gearing up for a fall opening at the campus’s new Triton Center.
“This 100% gluten-free destination will serve as a healthy new staple for students, residents, and the surrounding UTC office population, offering nutrient-dense meals without refined sugars or processed ingredients,” Goop Kitchen’s leasing company said in a social media post.
The restaurant sells salads, soups, pasta, pizzas, “organic, free-range, antibiotic-free, and air-chilled” rotisserie chicken and sustainably sourced Norwegian salmon. Its foods are gluten-free and lack refined sugar and preservatives, but the kitchen does not promise to be celiac-friendly, its FAQ specifies.
The restaurant chain is part of Paltrow’s Goop business, which also sells beauty, wellness, clothing and lifestyle products. The restaurants, for about five years concentrated in Orange County and Los Angeles, are spreading fast, with new offshoots in the Bay Area, New York City and soon San Diego.
“At Goop Kitchen, food fuels as much as it satisfies, nutrient-dense does not mean joy-deficient, and eating for pleasure is synonymous with eating clean. We operate with the intention of making clean food an easily accessible part of everyday life. Here, choosing ‘healthy’ isn’t a chore — it’s ordering lunch,” its website says.
UC San Diego betting big bucks that new center for students and alumni will be a hit
UC San Diego’s new Triton Center, announced in 2023, will be dedicated to alumni, student health and welcoming new students. It also has spaces for arts, leisure and retail.
Another Goop Kitchen, announced last October, is planned for One Paseo, but there is no word on when it is opening.