A Los Angeles favorite has finally made its way to San Diego, bringing with it the debut of its new concept. 

On August 31, Goop Kitchen will open its first-ever full-service restaurant at One Paseo in Del Mar, marking a new chapter as the brand expands beyond its traditional takeout-and-delivery-only model.

We sit down with Chef Kim Floresca, the culinary force behind Goop Kitchen, to talk about this next step, her approach to better-for-you food, and what the San Diego restaurant means for the brand’s evolution. 

The Goop Kitchen Revolution 

The upscale, fast-casual restaurant under Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand, Goop, has built a loyal following around its chef-crafted meals. Since its inception in 2021, 15 locations have opened throughout California, and this year it expanded to New York.

Designed to make health-conscious eating feel genuinely satisfying, the dishes are centered around thoughtfully sourced, whole-food ingredients. Following strict “Goop Certified Clean” standards, the recipes are free of gluten, dairy, corn, refined or processed sugars, peanuts, and preservatives. 

But you don’t have to follow a particular diet to enjoy the food. “We’re just trying to make good food that just happens to be better for you, that just happens to be gluten-free,” Floresca says. With an extensive career in some of the most respected kitchens in the world, Floresca knows a thing or two about good food. 

Meet Chef Kim Floresca 

From Per Se in New York to El Bulli in Spain and The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, Floresca brings her Michelin training to Goop Kitchen. Floresca acknowledges it may be an unconventional background for a concept centered on everyday eating, but that’s precisely what drew her to the world of Goop. 

She says Goop Kitchen has allowed her to take that fine-dining experience and translate it into a more casual setting. That spirit has become one of the many things Floresca values most about her work at Goop Kitchen. 

“In my 25 years of doing this, this is the first time that I’ve ever felt like every single person on this team is playing for the right reasons,” she expresses. “And it’s to make people happy, to do better work, to do it as a collaborative team.” 

With Floresca’s expertise and the dedicated culinary team behind her, Goop Kitchen is taking its next step from delivery to dining room. 

Why Full-Service, and Why San Diego? 

Designed by Michael Hsu Architecture in collaboration with Gwyneth Paltrow, the first full-service Goop Kitchen features a 42-seat dining room and 44-seat patio. Floresca’s focus is ultimately on what happens at the table, where the restaurant can create dishes that wouldn’t necessarily work in a delivery box. “We wanted to expand it in a way that could only offer certain items in the restaurant,” Floresca communicates. The prime example is the innovative Field of Greens Pizza. 

The pizza took nearly a year to develop and has become one of Floresca’s favorite creations. The dough is double-fermented and hand-pressed, then topped with pesto, layers of cheese, and finished with a generous layer of arugula salad and lemon-caper dressing. The result is part pizza, part salad, with the contrast of hot and cold, salty and sweet, creamy and acidic textures coming together in a single bite. And for now, it’s exclusive to the Del Mar location. 

From the first ghost kitchen to 11 locations throughout Los Angeles, it may come as a surprise that San Diego was chosen for the first full-service Goop Kitchen. Floresca says, “We knew San Diego was ready for this. We’re going to experiment with many parts for Goop Kitchen. San Diego was the perfect grounds for this.” 

The Del Mar restaurant will allow the culinary team to explore new recipes and other elements of the concept before determining what might come next for the brand. As a testing ground for what is hopefully the first of many full-service Goop Kitchens, Floresca is thrilled to showcase their hard work. 

Sourcing Locally 

As Goop Kitchen establishes itself in San Diego, Floresca and her team are also beginning to build relationships with local farmers and vendors. For now, the restaurant will rely on the brand’s established network of producers in the Los Angeles area. This decision is intentional, as Floresca emphasizes the importance of understanding the volume needed to support a full-service restaurant and avoid unnecessary food waste. 

The goal is to build a strong San Diego sourcing network and eventually incorporate more regional ingredients into the menu. Floresca says the team is particularly excited about working with local fish and tropical fruit, while also following the seasons to help shape a more regional menu. 

For her, sourcing locally is more than reducing a restaurant’s footprint; it’s about developing relationships. Floresca stresses the importance of those relationships working for both sides, and describes it as a give-and-take that doesn’t happen overnight. “We’re taking our time and making sure we have the right partners and making sure they’re being supported,” she says.

Above all, she recognizes the labor behind every ingredient that reaches the plate. Floresca sees farmers as the backbone of the industry, “growing food for all of America.” That perspective drives her commitment to building a local sourcing network rooted in mutual support and long-term relationships, ones that can grow alongside the restaurant.

A Seat at The Table 

When asked how she’ll define success for Goop Kitchen’s first full-service restaurant, Floresca doesn’t reference revenue, numbers, or hype. 

“We want them to feel welcome,” she states. “We just want to serve good, delicious food, for everybody.” It’s a simple answer, but perhaps that’s the point. 

For a brand that built its identity around food delivery, opening a restaurant is an opportunity to rethink what happens when food becomes a shared experience. With its debut in San Diego, Goop Kitchen is setting the table for a new era of connection, community, and culinary innovation.

» goopkitchen.com