Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Is Going in on Ghost Kitchens

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop is getting into the ghost kitchen game with the launch of a new delivery-only restaurant in Santa Monica, California.

The Goop Kitchen, which opened on March 8, is led by chef Kim Floresca, who worked at restaurants including Per Se, El Bulli, and The Restaurant at Meadowood. The menu includes bowls, salads, lettuce wraps, soups, and desserts. The dishes are all gluten-free and tout vegan options, sustainable growing practices, and an in-house “Goop Certified Clean” label (a.k.a. no processed sugars, processed foods, gluten, soy, dairy, peanuts, or preservatives). Prices are on par with other fast-casual bowl restaurants like Sweetgreen; GP’s — and again, that’s Gwyneth Paltrow‘s — Cobb is $11.95, while a spring salmon bowl will set you back about $16. Not exactly cheap, but we were expecting far steeper prices from the brand that, in a recent gift guide, suggested a $38,000 mattress and a $2,000K Ouija board that’s probably not even haunted.

“Driven by a core belief that clean, nutrient-dense, delicious food leads to greater well-being, Goop has covered countless detoxes and interviewed legions of experts on the food-to-happiness connection,” the company said in a statement, per Food & Wine. “Goop Kitchen’s mission is to accelerate the clean food movement by proving, just as Paltrow did years ago, that whole, unprocessed meals can be both satisfying and convenient, this time brought right to your door with just a few clicks.”

All in all, sounds very Goop-y.

Paltrow is the latest celebrity to join the ghost kitchen trend, following in the footsteps of fellow famous people such as Guy Fieri, YouTuber MrBeast, and rapper Tyga. Ghost kitchens, also known as virtual kitchens or delivery-only “concepts,” have become an increasingly popular restaurant model, particularly during the pandemic. It’s often easier and more cost-effective to spin up a virtual brand and service the delivery boom from industrial kitchens or existing restaurant kitchens than to open a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant with a dining room. That makes ghost kitchens attractive to celebrities with a brand image to hawk, independent chefs experimenting with pop-ups, and entrepreneurs looking for a scalable project with high earning potential.

It remains to be seen whether or not ghost kitchens will be the “future” of the restaurant industry, but there are sure to be more Goop Kitchens down the road. While the newly opened Santa Monica kitchen is currently the only location, the company promises “several Goop food concepts with new locations rolling out throughout the Los Angeles area in the next few months,” according to an Instagram post announcing the launch. This, of course, is in addition to Goop’s other business branches, which most recently extended into peddling snake oil to profit off the COVID-19 pandemic. Bon appétit, Los Angeles! Scrambled yoni eggs for all!

• Goop Opened a Ghost Kitchen to Deliver You a ‘Clean’ Lunch [F&W]