DavidsTea co-founder turns to salads
Eatery tries to fill gap in healthy options with offerings that ‘ain’t no rabbit food’
The man behind DavidsTea, a chain that sought to make tea as ubiquitous as a cup of Starbucks coffee, is now attempting to make salad more appealing to the masses.
David Segal’s new eatery Mad Radish opened its first store in Ottawa on Friday. The co-founder says he wants to change how some people perceive salad — from an unsatisfying choice that can leave one hungry to a nutritious, tasty option.
“This ain’t no rabbit food,” says Segal, who co-founded his tea shop chain in 2008 but left his role as the company’s brand ambassador last year in part to build the Mad Radish brand.
Segal feels there’s a dearth of the type of healthy, filling options in Canada, pointing to the number of burger joints. Segal sees those fast-food places as Mad Radish’s biggest competition.
He shrugs off suggestions that chains catering to health-conscious eaters have become more abundant, with even fast-food operators adding salads to their menus.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, for example, operates 17 restaurants in Canada as of the end of last year, according to its most recent annual report. The burrito chain touts its food as containing farmsourced ingredients that are prepared by hand.
Segal says Chipotle doesn’t fall within the same category as Mad Radish. He highlights his chef’s fine-dining background and the limited menu selection — a dozen salads, containing complex, fresh ingredients prepared in-house — as a big differentiator.
“Our goal is to be world class at salad,” he says.
He says to expect additional locations in his Ottawa hometown, as well as Montreal and Toronto.