First bite: Protein Fit Kitchen in Southlake

It’s been nearly a year since plans for Protein Fit Kitchen were announced, with a target date of late 2016/early 2017. But, as so often happens, target dates run into delays, and the restaurant/grab-and-go spot — founded by “two foodies with a passion for fitness” — finally, quietly opened last week in the Park Village Center.

The founding duo, Steve Herrera and Tony Phansana, believe that most “fitness food” just doesn’t taste that good, and enlisted Deb Cantrell, a popular DFW personal chef/caterer whose Savor Culinary Services emphasizes healthy meals, to be their culinary business coach. Cantrell, who is very busy with Savor — which will have a pop-up beer dinner Sept. 23 with Panther Island Brewing — is no longer involved.

The other key name was Kalen Jane, the former “Hell’s Kitchen” contestant who competed as Kalen Morgenstern and ran the short-lived FW Market + Table and was chef de cuisine at Tillman’s Roadhouse Fort Worth. She is still on board as executive chef and general manager.

Any time a restaurant has a mission statement on its takeout menu, you know it’s serious about stuff, and Protein Fit Kitchen is “focused on bringing healthy, protein-rich, fit foods to the community” and offers “customized meal prep for any dietary need.” Plates are made from recyclable bamboo, to-go containers are recyclable and the restaurant vows to to waste as little food as possible.

But what about the food? Here are some first impressions from a lunchtime visit this week.

The vibe: friendly and more elegant than you might expect for a fast-casual restaurant. The first thing you run into is a sofa-festooned patio, which at this point still has some construction going on, to the point where you can still smell some of the paint. The interior is expectedly small — five small tables and one communal one — but while the grab-and-go parts of FW Market + Table sometimes felt like a glorified convenience store, they’re more organically integrated into Protein Fit Kitchen. Plants decorate a good portion of the warm, woody interior.

The music: During my visit, it was heavy on nightclub-sounding dance music, played at a tolerable volume but not entirely in sync with the rest of the atmosphere (aside from the energetic counter servers). The one eyebrow-archer happened just as I was leaving: an unedited version of “Old Thing Back” by Matoma & the Notorious B.I.G. featuring Ja Rule & Ralph Tresvant (thank you, Shazam) that featured a few choice words that would get bleeped on most local radio stations. It was easier to hear those words on the patio than inside the restaurant, but it made me wonder about the family with small children that walked in as I was leaving.

The food: The menu is broken down to “Fit morning” (egg dishes, pancakes, bowls, granola); “Fit buns” (sandwiches, tacos, black-bean burger); “Fit greens” (kinda self-explanatory, although there is a “zoodles” spiralized-veggie dish to go along with the salads); “Fit kitchen” (a handful of entrees); and sides (all vegan, and all vegetable instead of something that’s pretending to be meat).

Drinks are broken down into “Fit level tonics” reminiscent of something you might get at Righteous Foods in Fort Worth, and “Fit mylkshakes,” made with almond milk and/or nonfat Greek yogurt, with an optional scoop of protein powder. Four of the six mylkshakes are vegan.

Everything is gluten-free.

As for what I ate, the Turkey Lurkey (a $10 tortilla wrap with smoked turkey, sprouts, sharp cheddar, apple and bacon jam) was tasty, if a little messy (that tortilla didn’t stay wrapped very long), with its biggest flavors coming from the turkey and bacon jam; a side of roasted sweet potatoes with onions and rosemary ($4) was excellent. I wasn’t crazy about the Ja Mocha Me Crazy mylkshake, which was served in a to-go style bottle even though I was dining in; not being vegan myself, I missed the thickness of an ordinary shake, and found the coffee flavor to not be as strong as I like it. Other mylkshakes like the blueberry/raspberry/beet We Got the Beet and the Strawberry Fields Forever might be better bets.

There’s also a selection of bagged chips, including hummus chips, beet chips, coconut chips and Terra vegetable chips, among other items, as well as some protein bars and cookies.

The prices: The most expensive things on the menu are steak and eggs, and grilled shrimp tacos (both $12); almost everything else is in the $8-$10 range, with sides coming in at $4. Tonics are also $4, and mylkshakes are $8-$10 as well.

The verdict: It’s a laid-back place with health-oriented food and friendly service — and a challenge in fighting off more established restaurants, such as Malai Kitchen, Modern Market, Gloria’s and others in Park Village, not to mention the Central Market and Southlake Town Square behemoths they’re all taking on, practically across the street. But when I’m in a healthy mood and want something quick, this is a place worth revisiting.

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 1:35 PM with the headline "First bite: Protein Fit Kitchen in Southlake."