Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels’ Café Twist™ Opens in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Eatery offers unique pretzel-featured fare, bakery tradition and social responsibility 
CHICAGO -- (May 19, 2010) Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels’ Café Twist™ opens Wednesday, May 19, in the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Park, 2218 N. Lincoln Ave. The inspired café will offer a deliciously twisted menu bursting with flavorful sandwiches, salads, soups and smoothies. Café Twist™ will feature Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels, the all-natural, hand-twisted, nut-free snack and meal that Chicago has proudly called its own for the past 15 years.
“Lincoln Park is an ideal spot for our first Chicago café,” says Scott Holstein, Chief Operating Officer. “We are eager for the locals joining us for a quick, healthier meal. And we look forward to being a destination for pretzel lovers from Chicagoland and beyond.”
OUR MENU Café Twist™, owned by Kim and Scott Holstein, is the first of its kind, free standing pretzel bakery café in Chicago. Local bakery founders and owners since 1995, the Holsteins meticulously designed the Café and its menu and with the magical spirit of the pretzel in mind. The Café, which will appeal to the kid in all of us, is allergy-aware and offers dairy-free and sugar-free selections. Café Twist™ will offer breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Eleven varieties of the warm stuffed pretzels can be ordered a la carte, or as part of a Twisted Sandwich. Diners’ taste buds will be tempted by the vegetarian, no-nut PB&J and homemade tuna sandwiches. And meat-lovers will enjoy sandwiches stacked with Boar’s Head deli meats and fresh cheeses. All sandwiches will feature a sliced, warm Kim & Scott’s pretzel.
The Twisted Flight of Pretzels, baked to share with friends, offers a delightful variety of stuffed, doughy twists, knots and dips. An assortment of gourmet dips including chutney, horseradish cream, Dijon mustard and mustard made with Goose Island stout, will complement the savory and sweet pretzel selections.
Twist Café™’s Twist Your Own pretzel allows guests to twist the dough into the iconic pretzel shape and add their own toppings. Whether you opt for a Pizza Pretzel or indulge in a Sweet S’Mores Pretzel, the creation will be scrumptious and all your own. To please the younger stomachs, not only will children love twisting their very own Rainbow Pretzel, but also they will have fun painting it and decorating with an endless buffet of kid-friendly toppings. Café Twist™ will bake these Twist Your Own pretzels or give directions to bake them at home. -more- Two soups and a chicken chili will be served daily. Numerous salads will offer crisp lettuce topped with Kim & Scott’s homemade pretzel croutons, premium meats and cheeses. Twisted Smoothies will blend Yo-Cream™ yogurt and fresh whole fruits and juices for a cool, energizing drink.
OUR PURPOSE
“The mission of the Café is to be as socially responsible and eco-friendly as possible,” says Kim Holstein, president and Chief Inspiration Officer of Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels. “At Café Twist™, we have the opportunity to nurture and nourish the stomachs, spirits and souls of our community.”
The Café is fueled by Kim & Scott’s “Pretzels with a Purpose” mantra. When Kim and Scott Holstein, started the business 15 years ago, they vowed that good must come from every pretzel. Today, Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels commits pretzels, time and money to organizations that make a difference in the world community.
THE DETAILS
The rich cinnamon, butter and chocolate brown motif offers a playful, yet peaceful atmosphere. Recycled tiles pattern the floors; and the packaging and silverware is eco-friendly.
Café Twist™, run by operations manager Phillip Everett, will be open seven days a week. Monday through Friday the Café will serve from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday the hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels can be found in the frozen aisles of Whole Foods Market, Super Target and major grocery chains. They’re also sold in smoothie chains, coffee shops, movie theaters and airports around the country.
Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels was started in 1995 and is now run out of a 38,000 sq. foot Chicago bakery with annual sales projected at $10-15 million. Fifteen years later it’s transformed the pretzel from a snack to an anytime meal. Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels deliciously touts more than 12 varieties. Each all-natural pretzel is twisted by hand and made from scratch. The company is proud that its pretzels are made in a nut-free facility, a great source of whole grains and free from trans fats, preservatives and hydrogenated oils.
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Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels was founded in 1995 by husband and wife team Kim and Scott Holstein. Since inception, the company has prided itself on its all natural, twisted by hand soft pretzels made in a nut-free bakery. The pretzels can be found in the frozen grocery aisles of Jewel, Kroger, SuperTarget, and Whole Foods. Café Twist™, 2218 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago opened spring 2010, the company’s 15th anniversary in business. The inspired café offers sandwiches, soups, salads and smoothies; and features the company’s stuffed soft pretzels. Kim & Scott’s products and philanthropic efforts were highly praised in 2004 by Fortune Magazine as a company “Breaking Big” and recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the “fastest growing companies in America.” Additionally, they have been deliciously touted by USA Today, Entrepreneur, CNBC’s Power Lunch, CNBC’s Donny Deutsch’s “Big Idea,” Food Network’s Dean Brothers and Food Network’s Roker on the Road who even called the pretzels “the talk of the Windy City.” For the past seven years, the pretzels have been sold on QVC to an audience of more than 87 million. In September 2009, Kim was recognized as the Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year by the Women’s Business Development Center of Chicago.
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