Proper Food opens Menlo Park location at Springline

Opening Proper Food at the Springline development in Menlo Park is a homecoming of sorts for owners Dana and Howard Bloom.

“We met at Stanford,” explains Dana. “It’s our happy place. It’s where we taught our son to ride a bike.”

When Springline approached them to be part of the new development, they were struck by its innovative mix of residential, office and eateries.

“We believed it was a great location for making high quality food more accessible to both Menlo Park and the Stanford community,” Dana says.

The grab-and-go food Proper sells is prepared fresh each morning, overseen by chef Juan Muñoz who has worked at numerous restaurants including one with a Michelin star.

Along with locations in New York City, Proper Food has 11 locations in downtown San Francisco along with one at SFO. Menlo Park is their first suburban location.

The were drawn to the food industry from different vantage points. Explains Dana: “Howard grew up with an appreciation for good food. I came into food through my love of travel. I also got interested in food as medicine — how it impacts our health and well-being.

“We lived in Europe for awhile which exposed us to new and interesting concepts. We were both working downtown [San Franciso] and couldn’t find  high quality to-go food. That prompted us to start Proper Food. We came up with the name ourselves!”

One thing that they didn’t think about initially was food waste — what to do with the food that is still on the shelf at the end of the day. The solution: donating what’s left over to local charities, including women’s and veteran’s shelters and after school programs for at-risk kids. “They can take the food home to their families,” says Dana.

The hours initially for the Menlo Park location (1300 El Camino Real) will be Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm.

“We really want to be part of community,” says Dana. “Because of the type of food we sell, we tend to have a lot of regulars. We looking forward to getting to know everyone.”

Photos courtesy of Proper Food by Henrik Kim