Cook dinner + Thief: Main the Ghost Kitchen Revolution

When investing, your capital is in danger.

In a delivery-forward world, the ghost kitchen mannequin is taking up the restaurant trade, and Cook dinner + Thief is on the forefront of the motion. 

From the co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith, the model is giving a brand new face to restaurant supply, by bringing a number of the hottest eating places and their menus below one roof. So whether or not you order a Tom Griffiths soiled burger or an Ollie Dabbous strawberry cheesecake, it can be sure you arrive in pristine situation, on 100% biodegradable packaging so lovely you’ll be able to eat straight from it.

We sat down with founder and CEO Andrew Grahame to seek out out the small print.

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How did the corporate begin?

Finally we wish to turn into the world’s most compelling model for individuals who love nice meals.

I began Mr & Mrs Smith 17 years in the past this 12 months and it’s nonetheless one of the thrilling luxurious journey manufacturers on this planet. One of many principal learnings from my expertise there was the right way to flip an amazing thought into a way of life model the place each buyer turns into a raving fan. This unwavering deal with delivering an unimaginable buyer expertise was actually the inspiration behind Cook dinner + Thief. Because the supply revolution started 5 years in the past it was clear that while the large tech manufacturers have been specializing in their software program, these of us that love nice meals had nobody model to fall in love with. That’s the place we slot in.

What makes the restaurant supply market ripe for disruption and the way is Cook dinner + Thief outfitted to disrupt it?

All of us crave comfort. Increasingly of us wish to eat residence with out having to cook dinner. However for these of us that care in regards to the meals we eat, if we don’t wish to cook dinner, we find yourself having to compromise with a take-in that’s poorer in high quality in comparison with what you’d order at a restaurant. We recognised very early on that the one means to make sure that we are able to deliver you scrumptious dishes in pristine situation, was to develop our personal proprietary expertise that would defend every dish in transit. It’s this expertise that allows us to work with the perfect eating places and cooks which in flip permits us to reinvent the takeaway expertise and disrupt the restaurant supply market.

What’s a ghost kitchen and what expertise has Cook dinner + Thief developed to personal this market?

In its easiest type a ghost kitchen is a delivery-only restaurant. Till just lately restaurant supply aggregators have supplied what they name “darkish kitchens” as extra restaurant models (sometimes transport containers in carparks) as a means of increasing their providing to areas the place there are “delicacies gaps”. We wish to change all that. Quite than single delicacies choices we deliver an entire host of eating places below one single menu. Quite than transport containers we function from state-of-the artwork kitchens in areas the place we are able to attain the biggest variety of our goal market. 

What menus from completely different venues can be found in the meanwhile and are there extra within the pipeline?

We solely launched three months in the past and already we’re working with a number of the hottest eating places and their celebrity cooks from Michelin-starred supremos like Ollie Dabbous and Andrew Wong. However whether or not you fancy Chinese language, Thai, Vegan, Grill or desserts, there’s something for each palette and each purse. However we aren’t stopping there, in a couple of weeks we wish to announce new Spanish, Indian and Japanese cuisines which is extremely thrilling. 

What are the corporate’s core values?

We’ve got three pillars for the model which act as our guiding rules. Firstly, we solely work with the most effective – probably the most thrilling restaurant manufacturers and the most effective cooks on the market. Secondly, we would like our meals to be loved by all, it doesn’t matter what delicacies it’s, there’s one thing on the menu for everybody. Lastly, it shouldn’t price the earth to eat what you need. All of our packaging is 100% biodegradable with no single use plastics in sight.

What was one of the thrilling successes to this point?

There have been fairly a couple of unimaginable milestones this 12 months from proving our back-box expertise and partnering with our well-known eating places to constructing our proficient crew, however for us the standout success has been the exceptional buyer opinions which have been greater than we ever anticipated. 

What can be a problem going ahead, is discovering, recruiting and coaching the cooks and rider-waiters rapidly sufficient to develop on the price we would like. We received’t ever compromise on the standard of the dishes we create and can solely scale after we are assured we’ve the crew in place to do it.

How has the enterprise tailored to a post-Covid world?

In addition to making certain we take all the mandatory steps to adjust to Covid laws we’re after all lucky to be a model that advantages from extra folks staying at residence. Nonetheless, we owe the model to the eating places we accomplice with and we’re doing every little thing we are able to to assist them throughout this difficult time. By introducing our Wings Membership, prospects will quickly be capable of get pleasure from unique presents at every of our accomplice eating places serving to to drive footfall (and subsequently income) again to an trade sector hit hardest by the lockdown restrictions.

What are you wanting ahead to most about crowdfunding?

Effectively, checking our funding coming in every day could also be much more addictive than an Ollie Dabbous’ vanilla cheesecake…perhaps. Joking apart, we truly can’t wait to see the model skyrocket and realise its full potential, reaching thousands and thousands of meals lovers in every single place. 

What’s your ardour exterior of labor?

Aside from meals? That’ll be meals. And journey after all. And meals. 

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

I made a decision early on to not have something within the menu I don’t completely love (therefore why you received’t discover any aubergine on the menu) however there are some dishes I select rather a lot – Andrew Wong’s black bean cod is fantastic and Tom Griffith’s Ox Cheek Suet Dumpling is the last word consolation meals. However in all honesty, they’re all nice.

What’s one piece of recommendation you’d give to the longer term, food-loving era?

Don’t compromise. Nice meals could also be tougher to seek out but it surely doesn’t must price the earth and it’s positively value it. 

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To seek out out extra about Cook dinner + Thief, go to the pitch now.

Michaela Salomon

Marketing campaign Assist Group