Press

San José, CA – Elevate Gourmet Brands’ long-awaited San Jose Mac + Cheese Kitchen celebrated its grand opening today at San José Mineta International Airport in Terminal B, near Gate 18. The new concept features decadent Mac + Cheese creations for all day parts, and hosts a full bar boasting local Bay Area craft beers, wines from the world-famous Central Coast, Napa, and Sonoma Valleys, plus a full menu of specialty cocktails.

San Jose Mac + Cheese Kitchen, a joint venture between Elevate Gourmet Brands and Aimhigh ESG, elevates the great American comfort food to airport indulgence, offering signature macs like the BBQ Pulled Pork Mac with slow-roasted pulled pork, BBQ sauce, creamy cheddar cheese sauce, crispy breadcrumb topping and a BBQ drizzle. Each mac is made to order in under four minutes, and guests have a wide selection of add-ons like crispy jalapenos, smoked bacon, and finishing drizzles, like creamy sriracha or roasted red pepper. Decadent sides like cornbread and loaded tater tots with creamy cheddar cheese sauce, bacon, and jalapenos complete the meal. The menu also includes Grilled Mac + Cheese Sandwiches, and even Breakfast Mac + Cheese Burritos named for San José area landmarks like The El Camino with scrambled eggs, mac + cheese.

San Jose Mac + Cheese Kitchen represents a step up in fast-serve casual operations for Elevate Gourmet Brands, with the launch of the concessionaire’s first full-service bar. A rotating tap and bottle menu with selections from local craft breweries like Lagunitas IPA and 21st Amendment IPA, and wines from Rambauer and Prisoner enhance the Mac + Cheese Kitchen experience. The menu will also feature pairings under the hashtag #macandcheers.

Preston Stohs, Elevate Gourmet Brands’ Director of Operations, has led the launch of San Jose Mac + Cheese Kitchen at SJC, saying, “This is a concept everyone is excited about, and it’s easy to see why. This is not your grandma’s mac and cheese, it’s more like what mac and cheese wants to be when it grows up. We tested a lot of different noodle types, cheese combinations, proteins, and toppings to achieve the final menu. We expect to continue refining in the months ahead in response to our guests’ feedback.” 

Elevate Gourmet Brands’ is moving into liquor service with this concept for the first time, “Adding a bar experience to the mac + cheese concept was something we were passionate about from the beginning of development,” said Mr Stohs. “We really wanted to elevate the mac + cheese restaurant as much as possible and pairing local beer and wine with our signature macs and grilled mac + cheese sandwiches allows us to push the average ticket and increase customer engagement while they wait for their flight. Our bespoke cocktails are just for fun!”

San José Mineta International Airport staff have also been highly anticipating the launch of San Jose Mac + Cheese Kitchen since construction began. SJC Airport Director, John Aitken, noted, “It’s a pleasure to welcome Elevate Gourmet Brand’s newest concept to SJC, and with it, this fun twist to a popular comfort food. This unique concept is another great way to make travelers look forward to their time at the Airport and it contributes to the convenient and inviting experience so many travelers love at SJC.” 

For more information about San Jose Mac + Cheese Kitchen follow on instagram.com/macandcheesekitchen

Pronto– Elevate Gourmet Brands’ community-driven grab ‘n go marketplace at SFO– is proud to welcome newest featured purveyor Oodaalolly to SFO. Based in the innovative San Francisco Bay Area, Oodaalolly is a rapidly growing AAPI-owned confections brand that makes award-winning chocolate exclusively using Philippine-sourced cacao.

Oodaalolly founder Hernan Lauber was born in a rural region of the Western Visayas and then raised in Switzerland and the US, where he learned the finer points of Swiss chocolate making from his father, a classically trained pastry chef, baker, and chocolatier. In 2017 after a decade of living in Zurich and Sydney, Hernan noticed that the craft chocolate using Philippine cacao didn’t have the smooth, creamy, and subtle textures of the Swiss chocolate he prized since youth. So, he combined his two cultures to form Oodaalolly—sourcing cacao from the Philippines to make chocolate the Swiss way. Oodaalolly focuses on direct trade with co-op farmers specializing in rare cacao varietals. Those beans are combined with time honored family recipes and Swiss techniques to make chocolate customers buy again and again. In 2019, fellow NEU alumnae, 3D-designer, and long-time friend, Jeremy Burnich, found himself bit by the chocolate bug after helping out at a well-regarded Filipino Night Market in SOMA, San Francisco. Now a graduate of Ecole Chocolate and an accelerated apprenticeship with Albert Lauber, he rapidly learned and continues to appreciate all things chocolate.

Oodaalolly was introduced to Elevate Gourmet Brands’ through Regional Manager, Angelita Velasco, who discovered the brand at Undiscovered SF Creative Market, celebrating Filipino-American Heritage Month in October of last year. Angelita was blown away by their daring chocolate flavor combinations, and connected immediately with their brand mission.

“From the moment I stepped up to Oodaalolly’s booth to meet Hernan, I was deeply inspired by his passion for the art of chocolate-making, and his desire to bring light to an understated product from the Philippines. From the richness of flavors, to the intricate patterns on the chocolate bars, and the stories behind the artistic packaging, Hernan and Jeremy are forging a bold new path in chocolate. As a Filipino, Oodaalolly strongly evokes what we Filipinos like to call ‘Pinoy Pride.’ I immediately knew their products and story would resonate with SFO travelers, and that they would be a great fit for Pronto, and we’re thrilled to showcase them at our SFO T-3 store!”

May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pronto is celebrating at its SFO Terminal 3 store with purveyor Oodaalolly, and other featured purveyors Burma Love and Epicurean.

Pronto partners with purveyors from the San Francisco Bay Area’s many distinct neighborhoods to offer a curated menu of specialty local provisions, and is proud to offer Oodaalolly’s artisan chocolates to SFO travelers, employees and flight crews at it’s Terminal 3 store; the first of three Pronto locations Elevate Gourmet Brands will open at SFO. Another Terminal 3 location is planned to open in late summer 2023, and a third location is planned for Terminal 1 in 2024.

To learn more about Oodaalolly please visit their website https://www.oodaalolly.com/oodaalolly

To learn more about Pronto, visit https://www.prontoprovisions.com/

May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pronto is celebrating at its SFO Terminal 3 store with featured purveyors Burma Love, Epicurean Solutions, and newest featured purveyor Oodaalolly.

Based in the innovative San Francisco Bay Area, Oodaalolly is a rapidly growing AAPI-owned confections brand that makes award-winning chocolate exclusively using Philippine-sourced cacao. Founded by Swiss-Filipino-American entrepreneurs and chocolate makers Hernan Lauber and Jeremy Burnich, Oodaalolly focuses on direct trade with co-op farmers specializing in rare cacao varietals. Those beans are combined with time honored family recipes and Swiss techniques to make chocolate customers buy again and again.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with our new friends at Pronto Provisions! It’s like the delightful balance of flavors when pairing our subtly sweet Pinch of Pangasinan with a full bodied Napa Cabernet – a perfect match. We can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together.”

Burma Love, with locations in the Mission and Downtown San Francisco, has been bringing the flavors of Burma to the Bay Area for two decades. Burma Love Foods’ mission is to produce a full range of high quality and delicious Burmese food products to enable customers to enjoy the flavors of Burma Love.

Epicurean Solutions offers small batch artisan salads with adventurous flavor profiles. Epicurean Solutions proclaims “our passion is translated through every hand-picked fresh herb, each homemade dressing, and all hand-cut ingredients. Being a vegetarian company does not hinder, but encourages our creativity. Our unique and daring flavor profiles are the product of ingredients not traditionally seen in other salads.”

“Our mission is to change the way travelers ‘grab ‘n go’ at the airport by highlighting exciting local food purveyors,” said Creative Director Greg Rabbitt. “We’re thrilled to celebrate the heritage of Burma Love, Epicurean, and Oodaalolly, three of our amazing partners here at our SFO Terminal 3 store. We’re proud to offer travelers their bold flavors and exciting meal options, and to spread their stories and brand philosophies as well.”

The Terminal 3-E Pronto store marketplace is the first of three Pronto locations Elevate Gourmet Brands will open at SFO; another Terminal 3 location is planned to open in late summer 2023, and a third location is planned for Terminal 1 in 2024.

To learn more about Burma Love, Epicurean, and Oodaalolly please visit their websites: https://www.burmalove.co/ https://www.epicureansolutions.com/ and https://www.oodaalolly.com/oodaalolly

To learn more about Pronto, visit https://www.prontoprovisions.com/

Green Beans Coffee’s SFO International Terminal café hosted students from San Mateo High School’s Culinary Arts Program last week, where they got to experience all aspects of working at the popular fast-paced airport café. Students teamed up with Green Beans Coffee baristas, kitchen staff, and management to learn everything from how to pull the perfect shot and serve Green Beans Coffee’s full menu of coffee drinks, bakery prep, as well as the keys to creating Green Beans Coffee’s signature customer experience.

“After a two-year break we were thrilled to resume our partnership with the Culinary Arts Program,” said Green Beans Coffee Regional Manager Angelita Velasco, who oversees the relationship and oversaw the experience for the students. “Everyone picked up the technical aspects of the job really well. We spent a lot of time talking about how we create our customer experience- keeping in mind that at the core of everything we do is the goal of making a positive impact in every guests’ day and leaving them with a positive feeling at the end of our short interaction with them. Our guests were very impressed with the students,” smiled Ms Velasco.

Ms Velasco visited San Mateo High School earlier in the year to work with students on-site to develop their Class Café, preparing and serving coffee drinks and bakery offerings to teachers and faculty. For the second part of the program students made the trip to San Francisco Airport’s International Terminal to work at the Green Beans Coffee café and put their skills to the test serving airport travelers, employees and flight crews. The program is designed to prepare students for higher education in the culinary arts field. As part of the course, students earn 7.5 Dual Enrollment Credits leading to the Food & Beverage Entry-Level Professional Skills Certificate from Skyline College and FOUR Industry Certifications.

“Green Beans Coffee is a Bay Area company- we’ve been here for over 25 years, and it’s our pleasure to mentor students in the Culinary Arts Program,” said Director of Operations Preston Stohs. “We look forward to seeing what the students go on to do after high school.”

Follow Random Acts of Coffee on Green Beans Coffee’s Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/greenbeanscoffeecompany/

Green Beans Coffee, Elevate Gourmet Brands’ popular third-wave airport cafe brand, is expanding its Random Acts of Coffee social media campaign to BNA and DFW airports after viral success at SFO airport.

The fun, candid campaign follows Green Beans Coffee team members as they randomly surprise SFO airport employees and travelers with popular coffee beverages, garnering authentic reactions and joyful interactions in the process. Random Acts of Coffee became an instant hit in early 2023, garnering over 50K views on Instagram, and SFO airport took notice, promoting the campaign on its own social media.

“At the core of the Green Beans Coffee customer experience is simply making a positive impact in every guests’ day. With ‘Random Acts of Coffee’ we’re expanding that experience from the café to the concourse and beyond,” said Greg Rabbitt, Creative Director. The campaign was conceived by Mr Rabbitt and Social Media Designer James Garcia and launched at SFO with Regional Manager Angelita Velasco.

“We’ve been serving airport travelers and employees at SFO for over a decade, and they’ve made us their favorite café,” Ms Velasco, who hosts the Random Acts of Coffee clips filmed at SFO, continued, “Our flagship location is there, and we’re constantly experimenting with new ways to impact and interact with airport travelers and employees, surprise them with coffee, have a quick chat- we’re happy to brighten people’s day, make them smile, and take them out of their busy day for a moment.”

“Using this winning formula, we’re looking forward to surprising travelers and airport employees at Nashville and Dallas with Random Acts of Coffee this spring!” said Creative Director Greg Rabbitt.

Follow Random Acts of Coffee on Green Beans Coffee’s Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/greenbeanscoffeecompany/

Pronto, Elevate Gourmet Brands’ community-driven airport marketplace, has launched its new purveyor-focused online presence and social media campaign this week.

The new Pronto website is key to Elevate Gourmet Brands’ growth strategy for the brand. “Our new online presence is helping us build relationships with local purveyors in several different regional markets,” said CEO Brian Laliberte. “Purveyors are excited to be able to share their products with airport travelers, and there is more demand than ever for new meal choices at the gate. We’re poised to expand Pronto to airports in Southern California, Texas, and the Southeast in the coming year.”

Pronto’s fun, whimsical new social media campaign launched at instagram.com/pronto_provisions/ and focuses on telling the stories of Pronto’s local purveyors, and showcasing their unique, ready-to-eat provisions available at Pronto’s SFO location in Terminal 3-E.

“Pronto’s new website and social media campaign really highlight our purveyors Burma Love, Esposto’s Meals, Epicurean, Panini Time, Voila Juice, Green Beans Coffee, and Ladle & Leaf,” explained Creative Director Greg Rabbitt. “These brands all have rich histories and unique provisions we’re thrilled to share with our audience online, and bring their products to SFO travelers.”

Pronto celebrated the launch of their first location in the fall, opening at SFO Terminal 3-E in time for the 2022 holiday travel season. The bright, fun location was a hit with airport employees and travelers from day one, and Elevate Gourmet Brands will open a second Pronto location at SFO with joint venture partner Skyview Concessions in summer of 2023.

“Pronto is changing the way travelers “grab and go” at the airport,” said Elevate Gourmet Brands Director of Non-Traditional Development, George Kennedy. “We’re on a mission to offer airport travelers a curated selection of unique, diverse ready-to-eat meal choices from exciting local neighborhood purveyors. Fresh-made, delicious meals they would otherwise not be able to find at the airport.”

Elevate Gourmet Brands will be presenting Pronto at this year’s AXN Conference in Denver, as well as their other brands: Green Beans Coffee, Whisk & Bowl, and the forthcoming Mac + Cheese Kitchen.

Visit prontoprovisions.com and instagram.com/pronto_provisions to learn more about Pronto’s featured purveyors.

Elevate Gourmet Brands hosts grand opening of Pronto! its eye-catching grab n’ go marketplace concept, in SFO Terminal 3. Pronto takes a unique approach to the airport grab n’ go marketplace: partnering exclusively with purveyors from the San Francisco Bay Area’s many distinct neighborhoods and communities to offer airport travelers “curated provisions, sourced locally”, packaged and ready for departure– Pronto!

Pronto launches with featured purveyors Burma Love, Esposto’s Meals, Epicurean, Panini Time (The Box Lunch Company), Voila Juice, Green Beans Coffee Co. and Ladle & Leaf. A curated selection of hot and cold grab n’ go products and pre-packaged meals from these purveyors will be available, with additional purveyors being added on a rolling basis. In addition to sandwiches, wraps, salads, and bottled drinks, Pronto features a selection of snacks, treats, and healthy sundries to round out your meal making it a one-stop-shop before your flight- like local purveyor Urban Remedy’s “fresh, organic, ready-to-eat meals, juices and snacks.”

“We’re proud to open the first Pronto Marketplace location at SFO. Elevate Gourmet Brands is a Bay Area business, we’ve been headquartered in Marin for over 25 years, so we’re particularly excited to collaborate with other local purveyors to bring airport travelers, employees and flight crews this diverse and delicious menu of curated provisions,” Elevate Gourmet Brands CEO Brian Laliberte said, adding, “SFO airport has been an incredible partner for almost a decade. We’re grateful to open our first Pronto brick & mortar location here.”

Burma Love, with locations in the Mission and Downtown San Francisco, has been bringing the flavors of Burma to the Bay Area for two decades. Esposto’s Meals, headquartered in South San Francisco, has been serving food in the Bay Area for over 50 years. Epicurean boasts “Fresh, Honest, Local” foods and takes pride in being a “values-based company that operates on the principles of high quality, integrity, and sustainability.” Voila Juices was established in Berkeley, California during the summer of 1978 and began its life in the form of a small and colorful juice cart set up in front of the Downtown Bart Station by partners Gary Boland and Dale Allen. Ladle & Leaf, with locations from San Francisco to Oakland to Palo Alto, believes in “keeping your friends close, and your farmers closer” and offers gourmet soups, mac & cheese, and hand-tossed salads.

The Terminal 3-E marketplace is the first of two Pronto locations Elevate Gourmet Brands will open at SFO; another Terminal 3 location is planned to open in late spring 2023.

Mac + Cheese Kitchen^®, the new comfort food concept from Elevate Gourmet Brands^®, has begun the build out of their flagship restaurant and bar at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport Terminal B.

Mac + Cheese Kitchen elevates the great American comfort food to an airport indulgence. At Mac + Cheese Kitchen, guests are encouraged to “fill their skillet”, building their own custom cheesy creations starting with a choice of white or cheddar bechamel cheese sauces, then adding premium proteins like grilled chicken, smoked bacon, or BBQ pulled pork. From there, guests can choose from a menu of unique and delicious add-ons, and top if off with toasted breadcrumbs. Their skillet is then crisped in the oven, and is ready to eat in only 4 minutes!

“We’re excited to launch Mac + Cheese Kitchen in San Jose. We had a lot of fun in the test kitchen developing this concept- we ate a lot of mac and cheese dishes,“ joked Brian Laliberte, CEO of Elevate Gourmet Brands. ”There are so many possibilities with a comfort food like mac and cheese, we really wanted to tweak the menu for each restaurant location based on regional tastes and the availability of high-quality ingredients”

Boasting an inclusive kids’ menu, grilled Mac + Cheese Sandwiches, a unique breakfast menu, fresh salad options, and dessert favorites, Mac + Cheese Kitchen has something for everyone. The San Jose Airport Mac + Cheese Kitchen will also also feature a full bar showcasing local craft beer, craft cocktails, and wine selections from one of the best growing regions in the country. Mac + Cheese Kitchen encourages you to feast before you fly!

Mac + Cheese Kitchen was designed in collaboration with Silhouette Architecture Design in Chicago, and Altitude is the construction partner. Elevate Gourmet Brands will follow up the SJC Mac + Cheese Kitchen with a second location, in SFO’s terminal 3 in the summer of 2023.

Elevate Gourmet Brands^® eye-catching grab n’ go marketplace concept Pronto!^® is in the final stages of build-out on its first brick-and-mortar location in SFO’s Terminal 3E. Boasting “curated provisions, sourced locally”, Pronto takes a unique approach to the airport grab n’ go marketplace: partnering exclusively with purveyors from the San Francisco Bay Area’s many distinct neighborhoods and communities to offer airport travelers, employees and flight crews a curated menu of provisions they would otherwise not be able to find at the airport, packaged and ready for departure– Pronto!

Pronto’s SFO T3-E location will open in early October with featured purveyors Burma Love, Esposto’s Meals, Epicurean, Panini Time (The Box Lunch Company), Voila Juice, Green Beans Coffee Co. and Ladle & Leaf. A curated selection of hot and cold grab n’ go products and pre-packaged meals from these purveyors will be available, with additional purveyors being added on a rolling basis.

Burma Love, with locations in the Mission and Downtown San Francisco, has been bringing the flavors of Burma to the Bay Area for two decades. Esposto’s Meals, headquartered in South San Francisco, has been serving food in the Bay Area for over 50 years. Epicurean boasts “Fresh, Honest, Local” foods and takes pride in being a “values-based company that operates on the principles of high quality, integrity, and sustainability.” Voila Juices was established in Berkeley, California during the summer of 1978 and began its life in the form of a small and colorful juice cart set up in front of the Downtown Bart Station by partners Gary Boland and Dale Allen. Ladle & Leaf, with locations from San Francisco to Oakland to Palo Alto, believes in “keeping your friends close, and your farmers closer” and offers gourmet soups, mac & cheese, and hand-tossed salads.

“We’re thrilled to partner with these diverse San Francisco-area vendors and offer their amazing products to SFO travelers,” Elevate Gourmet Brands Director of Non-Traditional Development George Kennedy said. “We’re looking forward to adding more local Bay Area vendors’ unique products and pre-packaged meals to this location in the weeks and months ahead.”

The Terminal 3-E marketplace is the first of two Pronto locations Elevate Gourmet Brands will open at SFO; a Terminal 3 location is planned to open in late spring 2023.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Elevate Gourmet Brands^® eye-catching grab n’ go marketplace concept Pronto!^® has begun build-out on its first brick-and-mortar location in SFO’s Terminal 3E. Offering “curated provisions, sourced locally”, Pronto takes a unique approach to the airport grab n’ go marketplace delivery model.

Pronto is EGB’s community-driven Grab n’ Go Market. Pronto partners with featured purveyors from each airport city’s many distinct neighborhoods to offer airport travelers, employees and flight crews a curated menu of provisions they would otherwise not be able to find at the airport packaged and ready for departure, Pronto!

“With each of our concepts, we want to bring something new to the airport space, offering new dining experiences while maintaining speed of service. With Pronto! we’re partnering with small, local purveyors from San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods, and showcasing their prepared meals to the millions of travelers, employees and flight crews who pass through SFO every year. It’s a win for airport diners, but it’s also a win for local businesses. As a Bay Area company ourselves, we’re excited to bring the neighborhood to the airport!” beamed Elevate Gourmet Brands CEO Brian Laliberte.

During the build-out with construction partner Altitude, Pronto will have a temporary grab and go mini-market to serve airport travelers at this location.

Ahead of it’s opening later this year, Pronto is actively working with Bay Area purveyors like San Francisco favorites Burma Superstar and Epicurean to curate an inclusive list of meal choices including: vegan, gluten-free, halal, and keto dietary preferences.

Terminal 3E is the first of two locations Pronto will open at SFO in the next 12 months.