Farmessa will soft open at Third Street Promenade’s Kitchen United Mix this month
By Dolores Quintana
Farmesa is a new brand and California-inspired fresh eatery concept from Chipotle. Much like regular Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants, guests will be able to customize their orders with choices of protein, greens, vegetables and grains. Farmesa will first soft open in partnership with Kitchen United Mix location on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, at 1315 3rd Street, with a smaller menu and shorter hours until they officially open in March.
The restaurant will serve meals in bowls and each bowl will come with your choice of one protein, greens, or a grain option, and two side dishes. The bowls will also come with a choice of five different sauces and a topping to finish off the dish. Some of the meals that Farmesa has planned when the restaurant is fully open include Classic Santa Maria-style Grilled Tri-Tip Steak, Everything Spice-Crusted Ora King Salmon, Whipped Potatoes, Golden Beets, Sprouted Cauliflower, and Sweet Potato Chips. The bowls will be priced between $11.95 to $16.95 each.
Customers can purchase Farmesa’s food through the kitchenunited.com/santamonica, Kitchen United Mix’s onsite kiosks or through delivery apps like Doordash
This new concept will function as a test kitchen of sorts for Chipotle and be a place for the chain and its cooks to work and learn more about how to innovate within the overall Chipotle concept. Farmesa could also serve as a potential incubator for the future of Chipotle.
Brian Niccol, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer said, in a written statement, “One of our strategic objectives is to create or invest in emerging culinary spaces and restaurant concepts that fit within Chipotle’s food with integrity mission and make fresh food daily. Our New Ventures team, which was created in 2022, developed a unique restaurant concept that uses classic culinary techniques with flavorful ingredients in a fast casual setting that we’re excited to test and learn on before we determine a broader rollout strategy.”
Farmesa was created with the collaboration of James Beard Award-winning Chef Nate Appleman who is the Director of Culinary Innovation at Farmesa. Appleman has been contributing to the innovation of the menu at Chipotle since the mid-2000s.
Additionally, the beverages at Farmesa will come courtesy of Tractor Beverage Co. These drinks are 100% Certified Organic, Non-GMO and All-Natural. Customers will also have the option of purchasing still or sparking bottled water.
Nate Lawton, Vice President of New Ventures at Chipotle said, via a press release, “Launching Farmesa in the Kitchen United Mix food hall in Santa Monica and partnering with third-party partners for pickup or delivery will allow us to reach a large number of consumers, learn quickly, and evolve our concept and menu so that we can deliver on our goals before expanding,” said. “We believe there’s an opportunity to serve premium, craveable food every day and we’re eager to bring this new concept to life.”
