Kevin Hart’s new plant-based fast food restaurant, Hart House, will open in Los Angeles this summer

Kevin Hart’s endless list of entertainment and business ventures will move into the fast food space this summer – with a plant-based restaurant taking root in California.

The comedian and actor’s new restaurant is called Hart Houseand the first two locations will open in Los Angeles and Hollywood. The restaurant has hired former Burger King culinary chef Michael Salem to develop the menu over the past two years, Los Angeles Magazine reported Thursday.

Hart, 42, switched to a plant-based diet in recent years and began promoting the lifestyle more openly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he had recently undergone physical rehabilitation for serious injuries he suffered in a horrific car accident in Los Angeles in 2019. During an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience”, Hart talked about embracing plant-based foods and encouraged others to challenge their misconceptions.

“Just because you make the decision to try herbal products doesn’t mean you have to [be engulfed] in this world,” Hart told Rogan. “Learn it, understand it, and see if there are any benefits that work for you.”

Hart said he cut red meat, fish and other seafood from his diet, but still occasionally had chicken. He identifies as a “plant-based eater”, rather than a vegan.

“Kevin kind of conceptualized this idea at the start of the pandemic,” Andy Hooper, CEO of Hart House, told LA Mag, who got a private tasting of the menu. “If I were advising it at the time, I would say, ‘Never dare open a restaurant, and never open a restaurant in the midst of COVID’, but after almost two years of real work on this menu and getting the food to a place where she can deliver on that promise, we’re good to go and excited to talk to the world of Hart House and excited to serve the food.”

Hooper said the restaurant will offer 100% plant-based burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, nuggets, milkshakes and sides.

The menu was developed to make foods that would be just as “appetizing” as conventional fast food products, but better for you. Salem explained that he didn’t want to lose sight of what makes meat-eaters enjoy food — and to make sure those flavors ended up on the menu at Hart House.

Whether and when the Hart House concept will expand beyond California remains to be seen, but it’s probably not a stretch to think that Hart would have his sights set on a location in his hometown of Philadelphia at some point. in the future.