Early on I set a course of transparency for Clover.

In 2008 this mattered to a few customers. Now in 2014 it matters to more of you. I think in 2020, when Clover is sweeping the nation, I think folks simply aren’t going to tolerate opaque food systems. In my view this world of smoke and mirrors that has dominated food for so many years is an old world, eroding before our eyes. If Clover can have a role in accelerating that erosion I will be proud.

Food has always been and still is cultural. But it used to connect people. In a deep way. You grew food with friends and family. You traded food with those you depended upon. You shared meals with those you loved. Roll the clock back 100 years and almost everybody in this country knew exactly where their food came from. And no, they weren’t hipsters.

I think that transparency in food, being able to see what is going on, is intimately related to the ability for food to connect people.

We thought from the beginning that the environment at Clover should reflect our values. The expression of that has evolved over the past few years, sometimes in surprising ways. We stumbled into window painting. And then we started finding these awesome shadows that are cast by our logo. I’ve started snapping pictures whenever I see this type of thing. Here’s one from Kendall. It’s beautiful, right? The sunlight is blasting right through Clover into our restaurant.

Have you noticed other aspects of our restaurant design that reinforce transparency? Anything you think we should do more of?