(BRADENTON, FL) The newest Sweet Tomatoes, located at 5407 University, is scheduled to open on Monday, July 12. To celebrate the grand opening, Sweet Tomatoes has partnered with the American Cancer Society, Bradenton Chapter, by hosting a preview fundraiser event on the following dates:

• Friday, July 9, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Saturday, July 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

For only five dollars, guests can enjoy Sweet Tomatoes’ 45-foot salad bar full of fresh, seasonal vegetables and tossed salads, made-from-scratch soups and hand-crafted muffins, focaccia, breads and desserts. Sweet Tomatoes will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to American Cancer Society, a voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

The new Bradenton location will offer a rotating menu of more than 100 original, made fresh daily recipes featuring signature salads, soups, bakery goods and hot pasta sauces, at an all-you-care-to-eat price.  All food is prepared without the use of artificial flavors, colors, additives or artificial trans fats.  A different food theme is featured each month and the most popular menu items are rotated every two weeks.  Items are showcased on a 45-foot salad bar and prepared exhibition style every 20 minutes.

“We’re thrilled to be the beneficiary of the new grand opening. Sweet Tomatoes is a great fit for the American Cancer Society. The fresh salads and healthy fare offered there fit well with the healthy lifestyle we aim to promote. In addition, Sweet Tomatoes offers such a great variety they can accommodate the many diet restrictions people undergoing cancer treatments have,” said Judy Athari, American Cancer Society. Money raised at this event, like all Relay For Life events, will go to provide direct patient support services in our local area and throughout Florida.”

Sweet Tomatoes seeks to be a vital and contributing part of each community in which it operates. To reach this goal, restaurants offer a “Fun-Raiser” program through which charities, churches, schools, athletic teams, scout troops and other non-profit organizations may raise funds by hosting in-store events. The restaurants assist in marketing the non-profit’s event by creating master flyers for distribution and promotion.

Sweet Tomatoes in Bradenton will be open daily from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. on Saturday and 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. on Sundays.  For more information call (941) 359-0110 or visit www.sweettomatoes.com. For more information on the American Cancer Society visit www.cancer.org. Guests can also become a fan of Sweet Tomatoes at www.facebook.com/souplantation and follow Sweet Tomatoes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/souplantation.

About Sweet Tomatoes

Sweet Tomatoes was founded in 1978 in San Diego and currently operates 115 salad buffet-style restaurants across the western, southern and eastern portions of the United States. Sweet Tomatoes cares about what comes out of guests’ wallets and into their bodies by creating an exceptional, all-you-care-to-eat dining experience with a daily selection of made-from-scratch soups and salads and hand-crafted muffins, focaccia, breads and tasty desserts. By combining high-quality, farm-fresh and scratch-made foods for a fixed price, the restaurants provide guests with the freedom to create their own wholesome meals. The restaurant concept is built around fresh prepared, great-tasting recipes with a salad bar full of seasonal vegetables and tossed salads prepared exhibition-style every 20 minutes. Sweet Tomatoes restaurants are open daily for lunch and dinner. For more information, visit www.sweettomatoes.com.

About American Cancer Society – Relay For Life:

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

The American Cancer Society, Relay For Life brings together more than 3.5 million people to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and empower individuals and communities to fight back against the disease. Relay brings people together from all walks of life to raise much needed funds and awareness. No matter who you are, there’s a place for you at Relay.

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It has been my recent dream to go to the White House and meet Michelle Obama and gab with her. Ironically, we at Souplantation / Sweet Tomatoes were contacted by the International Corporate Chefs Association (ICAA) to give, not me, but someone I am close to, that dream. The ICAA have joined together for the first time with White House Chef Sam Kass to launch an initiative to help educate the next generation of kids about healthy eating.  Our culinary services manager, Michael Schwanemann (who also provides yummy recipes on this blog), has been asked to be part of this exciting program.

The White House announced the “Chefs Move to Schools” program, run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program will pair chefs with interested schools in their communities so together they can create healthy meals that meet the schools’ dietary guidelines and budgets, while teaching young people about nutrition and making balanced and healthy choices.  With more than 31 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program and more than 11 million participating in the National School Breakfast Program, good nutrition at school is more important than ever.

The chefs that had the pleasure of attending had the fun of going on the White House grounds, visit the White House garden, hear the First Lady (and other celebrity speakers) speak in person, and have the experience of being part of the launch of an exciting new initiative.   Souplantation / Sweet Tomatoes  is excited to be a part of this program and for Mike to be representing the company this week.

I am so happy for Mike! I asked him to come back with many photos so I can live my dream through his visit. Hopefully we can report on his visit soon and our upcoming program with Chefs to Move School. Stay tuned!

Mike is there right now!!! here are some photos he just sent minutes ago!!

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For years now we have provided non-profit organizations around the country a great (and delicious) way to raise money for local non-profit groups just by dining at our restaurant.

We’ve got a delicious way to raise money for your non-profit group just by dining in one of our restaurants.

Where can you taste an abundance of fresh, wholesome food while raising money for your favorite non-profit organization? At Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurants! Booking a fundraiser couldn’t be easier, and the benefits couldn’t be better:

• 20% of event sales will be donated to your organization.

• Receive a colorful fundraiser flyer to share with your guests.

• A fun night out with friends and guests who all dining together for the cause

• And of course, fresh and delicious food!

Request a fundraiser in just 3 easy steps! It just takes a few minutes to complete the application process.

Click on the fundraiser tab at the top of our website to book your fundraiser OR visit http://www.souplantation.com/funraisers

We look forward to your event!

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At our company we like to recognize all employees for their outstanding work but most recently we want to recognize an employee that went above and beyond. One of our employees was featured in an article from the Antelope Valley Press in Palmdale, CA. Read below on how one of our crew members saved a young boy’s life.

Out of nowhere, she was right there behind him

by William Warford, Antelope Valley Press

It was a teary reunion Friday at the Souplantation restaurant in Palmdale, but they were tears of joy. It could have been so different.

“I didn’t think it would be so emotional,” said Ali Villalobos, smiling and wiping away a tear at the same time. She brought her 2- year-old son Caleb Ventura back to the restaurant to greet and formally thank employee Leila Munoz for what she did exactly one week before.

The previous Friday, Ali (pronounced Allie) Villalobos and her son were having lunch at the Souplantation, as they often do. But this time Villalobos’ mom wasn’t available to come along, and when Villalobos stepped away about six feet and turned to refill Caleb’s drink, the tot reached over to her plate, grabbed a crouton and popped it in his mouth. It only takes a second.

His mom returned to the table and noticed something wasn’t quite right. “At first I thought he was just a little antsy, or maybe he’d just taken too big a bite,” she said. “But then he opened his mouth and I couldn’t see anything. He started flailing his legs and waving his arms, and changing color. I said, ‘He’s not breathing!’ ”

Caleb made no sound and Villalobos sensed that horrible feeling that her worst nightmare was actually happening right before her eyes.

It’s that this-isn’t-really-happening feeling. But it was happening.

Leila Munoz noticed it, too, as she looked up from her work clearing tables.

To Villalobos, Munoz came on the scene like some sort of angel: “Out of nowhere, she was right there behind him, and she was so calm. She said, ‘You need to clear his airway because he’s not breathing.’ ”

Villalobos reached in with her fingers but the object in Caleb’s airway was too far down to clear, and Munoz realized it immediately.

“So she lifted him up. By this time his lips were blue. She was so calm. I couldn’t believe how calm she was. She said, ‘Let me push on his stomach.’ She did it and out came this half a crouton. It flew out; I actually caught it in my hand. All his air came back and people started clapping because they’d seen what was happening.”

Villalobos was overwhelmed. “It was the most wonderful thing. And she said to me, ‘You did a good job, mom,’ even though she was the one who did it, and then she went back to work like it was no big deal.

She went back to clearing tables. What an amazing, humble woman.”

Munoz was quiet and humble when it happened not even mentioning the incident to co-workers who hadn’t seen it and she remained humble at Friday’s reunion. “I have four kids of my own, and two nieces and one more on the way, so I’m around kids all the time,” she said. “So I think it was just a natural thing, being a mom.”

It was up to Juan Moreno, the Souplantation general manager, to tell the other employees because Munoz wasn’t going to say a word. “I told everybody,” Moreno said. “We’re so proud of Leila. She just said it was a natural reaction, but it was heroic. The mom was in tears, she couldn’t believe how Leila just jumped in.”

And then went back to work.

“Yes, and then went back to work,” Moreno said with a laugh. “She was

like: ‘Let me go save this baby’s life, then I’ve got two dirty tables to clear.’ She just went about her day. But we’re like family here, and we’re proud of this member of our family. One of our crew members was in tears when she heard what Leila did.”

And Friday’s reunion brought tears all around. “How can I ever thank her for what she did?” Villalobos said.

For his part, Caleb handed Munoz some flowers Friday and grew a tad impatient as the two women hugged and cried. His mom told him he’ll read about this day when he’s older. Then he sat down to a nice lunch, compliments of Souplantation.

No croutons.

William P. Warford’s column appears every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday in the Antelope Valley Press. Contact him at (661) 267-4166; P.O. Box 4050, Palmdale, CA, 93590-4050; or William.Warford@avpress.com.

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At our company, our Benefits Department integrates fun activities for the corporate office to incorporate health and wellness into our busy days at work. To start off this year they came up with the Fruits and Vegetables Challenge. The challenge is a fun approach to help us increase the amount of servings of fruits and vegetables in our diets.

During Ferbuary, we challenged each other to eat more fruits and vegetables and at the end of the challenge the employees who had the most points won fun prizes! (On a side note,  I won 2^nd place. Woo hoo!)

Everyone who participated received a challenge log sheet to record the points each day and a ‘quick tips’ sheet to provide us with easy ideas that we can follow during the challenge. All forms of fruits and veggies counted – fresh, frozen, canned, dried and 100% juice.

Try the challenge yourself; here are just a few of the quick tips. You get a point for each one!

Helpful hint: a trip to Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes really increases the number of fruits and veggies for the challenge! I got 10 points per day on days I went to our restaurant!!

• Eat a red fruit or vegetable (like apples, tomatoes, red peppers, beets or strawberries)
• Eat a white fruit or vegetable (like potatoes, onions, cauliflower, bananas or white peaches)
• Eat one more fruit or vegetable today than you did yesterday
• Eat fruit for a snack today
• Make a vegetable omelet for breakfast
• Eat fruit for dessert today
• Add vegetables to your soup, rice or pasta at dinner
• Cut up vegetables for easy access in your refrigerator
• Enjoy one cup of 100% fruit juice with breakfast
• Keep a snack bag of dried fruit (like raisins or cranberries) in your purse, brief case or desk at work
• Try a new method for cooking vegetables (grilling, roasting, sautéing)
• Make a low-fat dip (like black bean dip, hummus or salsa) to accompany raw vegetables

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It’s cool to be green. Whether you recycle your plastic bottles, reuse grocery bags or bring your own, conserve energy by unplugging electronics not being used during the day, or compost your trash, it can help improve the environment and save you money at the same time.

We can all make changes in our everyday life to make our planet a healthier one.   Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes are making small yet impactful improvements to our restaurants to help the environment:

• We’re installing Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) in our restaurants.
• We are using 100% recycled towel, tissue, and napkin products.
• Our take-out containers are recyclable.  We use no Styrofoam.
• We’re replacing hot water systems with new, tank-less hot water heaters.

Every year, we estimate that with these changes we can save:

• 2,129,400 pounds of waste paper
• 3,194.10 cubic yards of landfill space
• 7,452,900 gallons of water
• 4,365,270 kilowatts of energy

You can also help the environment and save some money by making these easy changes to your home and habits:

• Set up a recycle bin next to the trash and teach your children to place plastic bottles and cans in it.
• Use reusable BPA-free bottles for your water and other drinks instead of bottled water.
• Purchase eco-friendly cleaning products, which are sometimes less expensive than regular cleaners. Almost every brand is offering an eco-friendly version in major stores.
• Replace light bulbs with LED lights to save money and help the environment.
• Unplug unused electronics during the day. Your wallet and the environment will thank you.

We’ll keep you posted on our endeavors to make our restaurants greener for you, your family and the planet. And, please feel free to give us your tips and ideas. We’d love to share them with everyone here and our readers.

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First off, we want to thank you for reading our blog.  Everything we do at our restaurants is to serve our guests and without you, we wouldn’t exist.

With 112 restaurants in 15 states, over 300 million guests since 1978 have helped us to be #1 in fresh produce and salads, made-from-scratch soups, hot-tossed pastas, freshly baked breads and muffins, fresh fruit, frozen yogurt, and more.

Each month we look forward to showcasing the history of our Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants by letting your local managers show you what’s in their kitchen.  We’ll start with our first location and work our way through upcoming locations we have opening in 2010.

Additionally, CEO Michael Mack and presidents of the company will be blogging to give you their perspectives on the vision of the brand as we move into a new decade.

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A new year, a new you. For Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. (we’ll refer to it as GFR moving forward), the parent company for Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, the new year means a new website and a new blog!

We refreshed our website, added new content and ways for guests to engage with us and now, we’ve launched this blog so that we can share fun, fresh ideas and news with our favorite people, our guests (that’s you)!

This blog will be filled with all kinds of fun stuff! Look forward to getting a sneak peek at new menu items, some great make-it-at-home recipes, a preview of upcoming events and promotions, special insider looks into the restaurants and our headquarters in San Diego and more.

We’ll also be introducing you to some of the key people who work hard to make sure every guest has a wonderful experience at each Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurant.

There’s so much more to share with you so keep checking back for the latest on what is growing at Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes!

Lettuce know what you think!!!

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