OREM, Utah — If you've ever eaten something and immediately felt sluggish or heavy, you're not alone. That's the experience that inspired Elcio Zanatta, founder of Aubergine Kitchen, to rethink the way he eats, and eventually, how he feeds others.
"I focused on eating something that gave me taste, but I didn't care about how this would influence my body, my energy, and my health," Zanatta said.
He began experimenting with meals that balanced flavor and health, leading to the opening of the first Aubergine Kitchen location in Orem in 2014.
From the beginning, the goal was to create food that nourishes the body without sacrificing taste. "The way I felt was so different for the better. I thought there's no way this won't grow," Zanatta recalled.
The Aubergine Menu is full of influence and whole ingredients from around the world — including Brazil, where Zanatta is from.
"The main thing for us to feed our bodies well is to eat more whole foods, cutting processed foods, cutting sugar, therefore we use natural sugars, we don't fry foods, we just bake."
Now with 15 locations, some out of state, the restaurant continues to follow the same mission: changing lives with real food.
But growth isn't the only goal. Zanatta wants more people across America to experience meals that are both healthy and flavorful. "The best thing I feel is when customers come to me and say Aubergine is the only place I can eat safe, Aubergine changed my life for the better."
If you'd like to learn more about Aubergine or any of its locations, you can visit its website here.
