Tender Greens Set to Open This Week

Lettuce's competition for salad fanatics is opening up this week, just up the street on Locust Street. 

Tender Greens is the latest casual bistro serving healthy, organic, "artisan" salads and sandwhiches. "The chef-driven" restaurant, which has several locations in Southern California, launches its first Bay Area location in a 4,000-square-foot space next door to Lark Creek Walnut Creek. 

A press release put out by the company said the restaurant will offer "humanely-raised meats, locally-grown produce, sustainably-caught fish, local wines and microbrews in an eco-friendly, casual setting is eager to introduce itself to the community."

Tender Greens will also feature house-made charcuterie, cheeses, ice cream, and a bakery serving pastries with a nod to classic Americana, like pop tarts, sticky buns and a selection of seasonal pies.  This will be the first Tender Greens location to offer breakfast service consisting of fresh roasted and French-press coffee, pastries, and ultimately weekend brunch.

The chef behind the wheel is Charles Hechinger, an Orinda resident raised in San Francisco, who was inspired to become a chef by his parents’ Marin County restaurant. After several years' training and working in France, he returned to San Francisco to work in some of this city’s finest restaurants including Ernie’s, Alain Rondelli, Silks at the Mandarin Oriental, Sutter 500 with Hubert Keller, and at Boulevard with Nancy Oakes.

Hechinger first met Erik Oberholtzer, the chef and co-owner of Tender Greens in the kitchen of the Pan Pacific Hotel in San Francisco where Oberholtzer was the executive chef at the time.   

The restaurant's "efficient fast-casual concept" and its elationships with farmers and ranchers will allow the restaurant to deliver fine dining-quality ingredients in dishes under $11, the release said. 

“We plan to bring Walnut Creek the best local ingredients available," says Hechinger in the press release. 

The menu will feature daily specials, but the core menu will include everything from “Big Salads” to “Hot Stuff,”a portion of the menu that includes a choice of grilled protein served with veggies, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes or atop ciabatta alongside a simple salad.  There are also soups, daily and Meatless Monday specials, and an array of desserts and pastries.

Tender Greens Walnut Creek can be reached at (925) 937-5100 and will be open from 7am until 9pm daily.  For more information please visit www.tendergreensfood.com