Due to a busy schedule, Date Night could not make the opening party for True Food Kitchen. Instead, we sent our special “Millennial Correspondent” Elliott Strauss, whose office is nearby, to check out the hoopla.

Date Night follows an exclusive sequence of grand openings by attending…yet another opening! This is special correspondent Elliott checking in and kicking off my first entry on this esteemed food blog by visiting the healthy True Food Kitchen.

It sits right next to an establishment that you’ll probably remember, because your normal writers just visited Zinburger in Lenox a week ago. True Food occupies a trendy, modern space with a very large patio area and high ceilings inside.

According to the employees, everything is super fresh in terms of the vegetables and ingredients that they use, with no harmful pesticides.

Although there is no red carpet this time, my date Skye and I occupy a 2-person table near the center. We are attended to quickly and decide to try two refreshing summer beverages because it’s slightly too early for cocktails.

(Because we have just experienced 4 years of college, it’s really not too early. The work day, however, is unfortunately not yet complete.)

The Watermelon Lemonade (the pink one on the right) is tasty, but the real hit is the pomegranate limeade. There are little chia seeds that give it an interesting texture, and we agree that it’s quite excellent. Not pictured is some sort of twice filtered water, which might be a gimmick but hey, twice is better than not at all.

It’s hot out, and the Summer Salad sounds pleasant. The mix features a spinach base, some basil accents, and nicely-sized avocado wedges. It’s garnished with roasted almonds, blueberries, herb vinagerette tomatoes, cucumbers, and crumbled feta.

Skye gets the quinoa burger, which the server highly recommends. I don’t really know what quinoa is, but it is definitely hard to pronounce. The burger is really just two quinoa patties with veggies inside including lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, and hummus. It’s beautifully plated and a couple of people even stop as they pass to comment on how pretty it looks. It’s a bit messy and not extremely cohesive as a “burger” but still delicious. The sweet potato hash is not too oily and has some diced onions to compliment it.

I’m tempted by the bison burger, but decide to go with the steak street tacos. The portion size is fairly small but I really enjoy the soft corn tortillas with a perfectly marinated steak. It’s topped by carmelized onions, avocados, a tomatillo salsa, and cotija cheese. The green salsa is tasty and although I’d never heard of this type of cheese, it adds some interesting texture.

The anasazi beans are a nice twist on your average mexican beans. Overall, it’s not the most filling meal, but the chefs emphasize a smaller, healthier portion so it’s a good lunch place. I enjoy the tacos, even if they are potentially one of the less healthy items on a menu that is friendly for any vegetarian.

As this is a media event, we did not have to pay for our lunch. Thanks to the restaurant for the great hospitality and an earthy, relaxed ambience.