Tampa, Fla. (November 17, 2020) – Fitlife Foods, a Florida-based healthy lifestyle and wellness brand known for its fresh, flavorful, well-balanced meals, recently hired Tampa native Chris Austin as its new executive chef. Chef Chris will oversee all culinary creation across its twelve Fitlife Foods locations and its rapidly expanding weekly home delivery customers.
As a James Beard scholarship recipient from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Chef Chris will bring bold flavors and real food eating experiences to Fitlife. His focus will be on innovative, flavorful and well-balanced meals that bring the personal chef experience to Fitlife’s success-minded consumers. His style consists of French Mediterranean, with an interest in Southeast Asian and Yucatan cuisines.
Chef Chris got his start from 1997 – 2004 working in some of Northern California’s most renowned fine dining restaurants, including Gary Danko, Fleur de Lys, Hawthorn Lane, Acquerello and Farallon. From 2005 to 2013, Chef Chris was the executive chef for Whole Foods Northern California Region, where he helped pioneer the nationally recognized “Health Starts Here” program. Most recently, Chef Chris was the executive chef for Sonoma State University and the Green Music Center, before returning home to join the University of Tampa as executive chef and catering director for global leader Sodexo.
“Chef Chris is a perfect match for Fitlife, to bring mind-blowing flavors to our time-starved and goal-driven consumers,” said David Osterweil, founder of Fitlife Foods. “He shares our passion for flavorful, innovative and healthy meals, and most importantly aligns with our core focus of elevating the way people feel.”
Chef Chris recently created a number of new meals currently featured on the Fitlife menu, including Butternut Coconut Curry, Apple & Sage Meatloaf, Classic Pot Roast, Autumn Harvest Bowl and Apricot Glazed Chicken.
In December 2020, Fitlife is releasing an updated BBQ Beef with Mac n Cheese (an original menu item) and Pad Thai, which Chris has reinvented and refreshed.
On January 9th, Fitlife will release eight more meals created by Chef Chris and his culinary team. The new menu items include: Crème Brulee French Toast, California Goat Cheese Torta, Grilled Mojito Lime Chicken, Gaucho Flat Iron Steak, Spinach & Artichoke Portobello, Pork Bulgogi Bowl, Protein Matcha Bites and Tarragon Chicken Salad Snacker.
To learn more about Fitlife Foods and their stores and weekly home delivery, please visit eatfitlifefoods.com and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more information on Fitlife Foods’ wellness coaching and benefits, visit eatfitlifefoods.com/project-u.
About Fitlife Foods:
Founded in 2010, Fitlife Foods creates fresh, all-natural meals that are nutritious, flavorful, perfectly-portioned and crafted from scratch. With 65 menu items to satisfy every craving, Fitlife Foods’ philosophy is to elevate your everyday by creating innovative meals for success-minded people who value their time, their health and great flavor. Fitlife Foods has 12 locations throughout Florida and an expansive weekly home delivery program. The company is the second largest omni-channel (retail & direct-to-consumer) prepared meals retailer in the country and the largest in the Southeast.