True Food Kitchen, a seasonally inspired, healthy-eating restaurant and craft bar chain, will open its second New Jersey location on Oct. 17 at Menlo Park Mall in Edison.

The new restaurant, which has around 150 employees, marks True Food Kitchen's 43rd location nationwide. The other Garden State location is in Hackensack.

Featuring a specially curated menu with exclusive items for the Edison location, the restaurant was co-founded by integrative medicine expert, Dr. Andrew Weil. The menu closely adheres to Weil's anti-inflammatory food pyramid, which aims to counteract chronic inflammation and focuses on eating foods that help maintain optimal health.

"The reason we call it True Food is because we believe that eating well leads to living well and also just overall wellness," said Rebecca Dye, True Food Kitchen chief marketing officer, "so we talk about the truth in food and food can just unlock so much for living a better life."

And it's a restaurant with a mission.

"Our mission is to inspire people to eat better, feel better and live better," Dye said.

The restaurant was founded in 2008 by Weil, Dye said, with the belief that there was no opposition between food that tasted great and was good for you.

"I like to say that we are just overall goodness and focus on wellness, but the cuisine is actually quite varied,” she said. “We really focus on nutrient density, so making sure that things have the most nutrients in them, but we have things like pizzas and flatbreads.”

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Dye called the menu "quite a flavor exploration, with all these wholesome, amazing ingredients."

Also on the menu are wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages. Happy hour runs from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Edison location will feature a dining room with 189 seats, an open kitchen designed to bring guests closer to the restaurant’s culinary craft, a private dining room to accommodate up to eight guests, a separate To-Go entrance and counter and a full-service bar. There are two patio sections, covered and open trellis seating 82 guests.

True Food Kitchen will open with a variety of ordering options. In-store, guests are offered the option to order via their mobile phone, allowing them to scan, order and pay directly from their device. The full True Food Kitchen menu is online, allowing for pick-up or delivery, as well.

"The beef that we source, the salmon that we source, everything is done with such intentionality for the planet but also for the flavor experience," Dye said. "That is a big differentiator. I think most people when they come to us, they're a bit skeptical. They think, 'I've tried healthy food before. It's a boring salad. It's something that I'm not going to like.' And almost everybody leaves saying, 'Oh, my gosh, I didn't know food could taste this good. And leave me feeling good..’”

True Food Kitchen at Menlo Park Mall in Edison will be open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

For more information, visit www.truefoodkitchen.com/locations/Edison. Follow True Food Kitchen on Instagram at @livetruefood and on Facebook at facebook.com/TrueFoodKitchen.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com. Email bwadlow@gannettnj.com