Sweetgreen Taps Pasta Champ Missy Robbins and Other Top Chefs for Latest Collaboration

For those who thought that salad chain Sweetgreen had disappeared along with offices earlier this year, here’s a surprise: The chain is still slinging its $15 bowls, and now headlining NYC chefs including Missy Robbins and Danny Bowien are partnering with the company for the launch of a new online ordering feature.

In a bid to boost online orders, the chain is launching a new digital menu section today dubbed ‘Collections’ that gives customers suggestions on how to build a bowl based on their dietary preferences and restrictions.

As part of the launch, the chain pulled in nationally-recognized names from across the country including Michael Solomonov, Kwame Onwuachi, and Nancy Silverton to reminisce about their favorite Sweetgreen orders and show diners how to order salads just like them.

Unlike Sweetgreen’s past buzzy chef collaborations such as David Chang’s sweet potato and kelp bowl and Dan Barber’s Koginut squash bowl, the chefs involved with this launch have constructed menu items using only ingredients already on the line at Sweetgreen.

NYC chef Missy Robbins of pasta hotspots Misi and Lilia built a salad with arugula, baby spinach, crushed red peppers, and balsamic vinaigrette, while acclaimed pastry chef Malcolm Livingston’s bowl features roasted corn, tomatoes, and spicy sunflower seeds. Sceney chef Danny Bowien — whose restaurant Mission, formerly known as Mission Chinese, has come under fire in the past as an allegedly toxic workplace — did a take on the kale Caesar with chicken, chickpeas, and Sweetgreen’s hot sauce. Bowien has also done a past Sweetgreen collaboration similar to Chang and Barber.

When the pandemic first hit, Sweetgreen slowed its operations and focused on getting — and then giving back — government aid for small businesses during the crisis. As the months wore on, the chain returned to expanding into new markets and beefing up its online presence. Many of its stores have reopened in NYC with adjusted operating hours.

The new menu feature launches today, and on Monday, all proceeds from the sales of the chef-curated bowls will be donated to the Independent Restaurant Coalition.