The popular Café Vida is now bringing its globallyinspired, organic California cuisine with a Latin flair to Culver City’s Restaurant Row across the street from City Hall.
“We have always had our eye on Culver City as one of the places we were very interested in for our next restaurant,” Partner Luis Castaneda said. “The reason we wanted to come to Culver City is that it is up and coming and very focused on food. Understanding what is available in Culver City, we always thought that Café Vida would fit very well in the mix of restaurants here.”
With locations in Pacific Palisades and El Segundo, Café Vida’s partners Luis Castaneda, Chef Francisco Cornejo and Marcello Marolla, approached their venture in Culver City with many years of experience in the industry.
“The essence of our concept is all about flavorful, delicious food that happens to be healthy,” Castaneda said. “This is the food that we eat every day. We are very aware of trends and the concerns people have about what they’re putting in their bodies, and that is why we insist upon only the highest quality ingredients. We always use hormone-and-antibioticfree chicken and meat, zero trans-fat oils, no processed foods, organic coffee and real maple syrup.”
Attracting a crowd at breakfast and lunch has not been difficult for Café Vida, especially with their in-restaurant Juice Bar, and being just steps away from Sony Studios. To encourage their dinner business to thrive, Café Vida Culver City is the first of their locations to offer wine, beer and Soju cocktails. They will also introduce some new appetizers and entrees to the dinner menu in the coming weeks.
“Dinner was a bit challenging because the perception was we were more of a breakfast and lunch place but we have been pushing dinner and tweaking our menu in order to appeal to the dinner crowd,” Castaneda said. “We’ve found that once people try it, they get ‘hooked’ on it, and keep coming back. Plus, our dining patio is pretty irresistible in the evening.”
Café Vida takes a different approach to California dining, and even has an innovative Juice Bar that serves a range of fresh-squeezed juices and smoothies including Skin Perfection, Immunity Cocktail, Super Detox, The Alkalizer, Almond Butter Cup, and many more.
“We use only the best products and the freshest ingredients,” Castaneda said. “That means we never use heavy oils or sauces. It is unpretentious cooking that tastes amazing, looks great and feels right in price. Our basic promise is to offer flavorful, healthful new alternatives for people and families.”
