News | March 26, 2018

Umami Burger Continues To Innovate - Unveiling Three New 'Impossible' Burgers

The new plant-based burgers will be exclusively available at Umami Burger locations nationwide on March 26th

Los Angeles, CA /PRNewswire/ - Umami Burger, the world-renowned premium burger brand that continues to evolve to meet the needs of the market, is thrilled to expand their partnership with Impossible Foods by introducing three new craveable additions of its famed 'Impossible Burger' to its menu on March 26, 2018, for a limited time, becoming Impossible Foods' largest retail partner. The launch of these three exclusive Impossible Burgers follows a year of tremendous success for the Umami and Impossible Foods partnership – including the buzzed-about limited release of Jaden's Impossible Trio in partnership with Jaden Smith, as well as the title of Umami's #3 most purchased burger of the year.

Speaking to the success of the Umami x Impossible partnership, Sam Nazarian, Founder & CEO of sbe states: "Since our initial launch, we have seen a tremendous response from our fanbase as well as first-time guests who have come in specifically to try the Impossible Burger, and it inspired us to expand our innovative partnership with Impossible Foods even further." He adds: "The double-digit growth and success we've seen together proves there is a desire for delicious, environmentally-conscious, plant-based options and we're excited to help lead the movement."

"The team at Umami Burger has cracked the code on bringing out the best of the Impossible Burger, not only in terms of deliciousness, but also as a driver of business and innovation," said David Lee, Chief Operating Officer at Impossible Foods. "We anticipate that these new Umami burgers will bring a whole new swath of meat-lovers to the table, and we are thrilled to be growing this partnership."

Chef Martin Heireling, Chief Culinary Officer at sbe, states: "We are keen to introduce these new Impossible options as well as our first-ever vegan bun nationwide. We listened to what our diners were telling us, and delivered this craveable collection for meat-lovers and plant-lovers in response." He adds: "Impossible Classic is a play on an old-fashion, traditional burger but with an Umami and Impossible twist. Impossible VBQ is our first BBQ offering on the menu, so we let the umami flavor speak for itself through a 100% plant-based platform. Impossible Trufflemaker is a new take on an Umami Burger favorite, keeping true to its recipe but vegan from bun to bun. These are really just the beginning – stay tuned for more."

Striving to disrupt the market through innovative design and culinary offerings, Umami partnered with Impossible Foods in May 2017 to bring the revolutionary burger to the masses. Starting in their Southern California locations as the first multiple location restaurant group to feature the meatless burger, Umami's Impossible Burger's popularity demanded the expansion to Northern California, where it was the first better burger restaurant group to offer the plant-based patty, and ultimately across the entire Umami US platform. Starting today, the new menu items will be available at all locations nationwide for eagerly awaiting fans for a limited time.

The irresistible menu items include two options, which are 100% plant-based from bun to bun: Impossible VBQ a 4 oz. Impossible meat patty on a vegan bun, complimented with an espresso rub, smoky sweet BBQ sauce, coleslaw & thinly sliced jalapeno, and topped with grilled onions ($13); and Impossible Trufflemaker a 4 oz. Impossible meat patty on a vegan bun, covered with a truffle fondue, truffle aioli, port wine & truffle glaze topped with curly lettuce and fresh tomato ($14). The third newest addition is the Impossible Classic a 4 oz. Impossible meat patty on a vegan bun featuring Umami house sauce and American cheese topped with curly lettuce, onion, and tomato ($13). These items join Umami's original Impossible Burger, which comes with two patties, caramelized onions, American cheese, miso-mustard, house spread, dill pickles, lettuce, and tomato ($16), making Umami Burger the first and only restaurant to offer four unique Impossible burgers.

Designed to please even the biggest meat lovers, the Impossible Burger is the world's first and only burger that looks, handles, cooks and most importantly tastes like ground beef from cows - but is made solely from plants with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The Impossible Burger generates about 87% fewer greenhouse gases, and 75% less water and requires about 95% less land than conventional ground beef. Produced sans hormones, antibiotics, cholesterol or artificial flavors, the Impossible Burger is a health-conscious meat-lovers dream.

For more information on Umami Burger visit umamiburger.com or follow @umamiburger or #umamiburger on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT UMAMI BURGER:
Founded in Los Angeles in 2009, Umami Burger has been named GQ's "Burger of the Year," Men's Journal's"Best Burger in America" and one of the "25 Most Innovative Consumer Brands of 2016" by Forbes' CircleUp25. Currently, Umami Burger has 22 restaurants in California, New York, Illinois, Nevada, and Japan with additional locations planned around the world. sbe, the leading lifestyle hospitality company that develops, manages and operates award-winning hospitality venues, is Umami Burger's majority shareholder. For more information on Umami Burger, please visit umamiburger.com or follow @umamiburger or #umamiburger on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE FOODS:
Based in Redwood City, California, Impossible Foods makes delicious, nutritious meat and dairy products directly from plants -- with a much smaller environmental footprint than those produced from animals. The privately held company was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., formerly a biochemistry professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Stanford University. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Open Philanthropy Project and Temasek. More information:

ABOUT sbe:
Established in 2002 by Founder and CEO Sam Nazarian, sbe is a privately-held, leading lifestyle hospitality company that develops, manages and operates award-winning hotels, residences, restaurants, and nightclubs. Through exclusive partnerships with cultural visionaries, sbe is devoted to creating extraordinary experiences throughout its proprietary brands with a commitment to authenticity, sophistication, mastery, and innovation. Following the acquisition of Morgans Hotel Group, the pioneer of boutique lifestyle hotels, in partnership with The Yucaipa Companies and Cain International (formerly Cain Hoy), sbe has an unparalleled global portfolio featuring 23 world-class lifestyle hotel properties in 9 attractive gateway markets and 134 global world-renowned hotel, entertainment and food & beverage outlets. The company is uniquely positioned to offer a complete lifestyle experience - from nightlife, food & beverage and entertainment to hotels and residences, and through its innovative customer loyalty and rewards program, The Code, as well as its award-winning international real estate development subsidiary, Dakota Development - all of which solidify sbe as the preeminent leader across hospitality. The company's established and upcoming hotel brands include SLS Hotel & Residences, Delano, Mondrian, The Redbury, Hyde Hotel & Residences, and Originals. In addition, sbe has the following internationally acclaimed restaurants and lounges under subsidiary Disruptive Restaurant Group: Katsuya by Chef Katsuya Uechi, Cleo by Chef Danny Elmaleh, The Bazaar by José Andrés, Fi'lia by Michael Schwartz, Leynia by Chef José Icardi, Umami Burger, Hyde Lounge, Skybar, Bond, and Privilege. More information about sbe can be obtained at sbe.com.

Source: sbe

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