Sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Golden Ray have opened a fully plant-based fast-casual restaurant called Hey, Sunshine Kitchen in Culver City, Los Angeles County.
Engel and Ray are trained chefs and cookbook authors with over 23 years of experience, who count celebrities such as Zooey Deschanel among their fans. They are the entrepreneurs behind vegan food company and cooking school Spork Foods, which they have run for over 15 years.
With Hey, Sunshine Kitchen, the sisters aim to “revolutionize the plant-based food industry and transform the future of fast-casual restaurants”. The menu features a range of bowls, salads, tacos, sandwiches, kids’ meals, and desserts, including:
Mediterranean Chickpea Bowl
Backyard BBQ Tofu Salad
Avocado Crunch Bowl
Baja “Fish” Taco
Kids’ mac & cheese and chickpea nuggets
Rainbow chocolate chip cookies and chocolate velvet cake
Drinks such as wild blueberry lemonade, strawberry mint lemonade, and spiced hibiscus iced tea.
© Hey, Sunshine Kitchen
“Since Heather and I were five, we have always had a passion for cooking and loved being in the kitchen with our parents,” said Engel. “The health of the planet has always been important to us, and after we ran Los Angeles’ first vegan cooking school, Spork Foods, we decided to open Hey, Sunshine Kitchen as part of our bigger commitment to creating delicious plant-based meals and leaving the Earth in better shape for our children.”
“Sustainable and delicious”
Hey, Sunshine Kitchen has also partnered with Friends of Ballona Wetlands to help support pollinator conservation. Through the partnership, complimentary pollinator-friendly plants will be given to guests on Mondays, sponsored by plant-based food brand Follow Your Heart.
“We ran Spork Foods for over 15 years and trained home cooks and chefs at resorts, hotels, and universities. Jenny and I always envisioned that we would start a restaurant endeavor together to bring sustainable and delicious meals to our beloved community,” said Ray. “With Hey, Sunshine Kitchen, our philosophy is to create non-GMO plant-based foods that taste amazing without sacrificing the textures and flavors people love.”
Hey, Sunshine Kitchen is located at 3863 Overland Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232.
