Moveable Feast Offers an Elevated, New Take on Meal Delivery Services

Recently launched company, Moveable Feast, taps independently-owned James Beard and Michelin-awarded restaurants to deliver stunning multi-course meals nationwide

 
 

The announcement of another meal delivery service may sound redundant, yet restaurant-goers, entertainers, and gourmands alike, may want to pay special attention to Moveable Feast, which is offering a refreshingly different meal delivery concept as of this March. Founded by John Stubbs, owner of Jewel of the South in New Orleans, Jon Sybert, owner and chef of Tail Up Goat and Revelers Hour in Washington D.C., and Ricardo Reyes, a former marketing and communications executive with Tesla and Google, Moveable Feast has partnered with an impressive list of 12 restaurants located across the country – including New York City’s Dirt Candy, San Francisco’s Ernest, and New Orleans’ Compère Lapin – to launch a first-of-its-kind platform delivering the beloved cuisine of the country’s best independently-owned restaurants directly to customers’ dinner tables, while also providing a new avenue for independent restaurants to better connect with guests across the nation.

With feasts for four starting at $385 (inclusive of shipping) and other multi-feast packages available at discounted prices, Moveable Feast is a premium service uniquely and intentionally targeting those with an appreciation for elevated cuisine, unlike the abounding mass-market meal delivery services offering easy-to-make, wellness-oriented, and dietary-specific options. This divergent company, backed by a restaurant roster honored with a total of 22 James Beard nominations and 5 Michelin stars, is certainly appealing to the food-obsessed and those tempted to refine their at-home dining routines with the help of the country’s best chefs.

“No existing food delivery platform works for independent restaurants to reach customers at home at scale. So we decided to build one that does.”

John Stubbs, co-founder and CEO of Moveable Feast and owner of Jewel of the South in New Orleans

While the premise of Moveable Feast seems simple, the product reflects meticulous planning and execution, as well as a degree of quality that justifies its premium price tag. As part of its newly launched Dinner Party Feast product, each month one featured restaurant takes the lead in creating a family-style menu for four or more people consisting of canapés, a main dish, sides, and dessert. To guarantee access to premium and sustainably-sourced ingredients (the company exclusively works with farmers that employ sustainable, biodynamic, or organic growing methods), all meals are prepared at and shipped from Moveable Feast’s central kitchen located in Napa, California. Meals arrive fully cooked in refrigerated packaging with step-by-step instructions for reheating and preparing the contents, with meals typically being ready to serve in about 30 minutes. Taking a step beyond sustainably sourced ingredients, Moveable Feast only uses recyclable, compostable, or reusable materials for its deliveries. The company has also committed to creating a supportive environment for its workers by actively fostering inclusivity and diversity in its hiring and training practices and providing a variety of benefits to all employees, including company-paid healthcare, 401k access, and stock options.

 
 

I had the opportunity to try Moveable Feast’s first Dinner Party Feast, which featured a family-style meal from acclaimed James Beard winning Chef Nina Compton and her restaurant Compère Lapin. Having dined at Chef Compton’s restaurants numerous times, this was a perfect opportunity to test Moveable Feast’s ability to deliver a restaurant-like experience in-home. Further testing Moveable Feast, I invited a few friends over to join in the culinary journey and to gather a few more opinions about the overall experience.

 
 

I received the package within two days of it being shipped and found that all ingredients were accounted for, perfectly refrigerated, and stored in compostable pouches or reusable glass and stainless steel containers. Also included in the package were several menus (perfect for handing out to guests at the start of the meal), a list of required kitchen equipment, and easy-to-follow instructions. With a bit of multitasking, the ingredients came together flawlessly in less than 40 minutes. The briny bowfin caviar and tart pickled shrimp with avocado were excellent starters for the ensuing meal. We dove into the main dinner course, which featured a thoroughly spiced and wonderfully aromatic jerk chicken, a little gem salad with a divine coconut dressing (hopefully, Chef Compton reads this and somehow finds a way to send me the recipe), a rich cow heel and bone marrow soup served with chili and herb oil, wood roasted yams with a bright cilantro-lime butter, and buttermilk biscuits with honey butter. For dessert, we enjoyed a decadent coconut tres leches cake – one of the best desserts I’ve had in awhile. The meal was enjoyed unanimously, with each dish boldly or playfully representative of the Caribbean-accented cuisine I fondly remember eating at Chef Compton’s restaurants. For a moment, the walls of my one-bedroom New York City apartment melted away, and I was left fascinated by the food in front of me, conversing with my friends about their thoughts and perspectives on the feast before our eyes.

Moveable Feast has accomplished an incredible feat by proving it is possible to create a scalable business model capable of delivering impeccable restaurant-quality cuisine nationwide while remaining committed to sustainable practices and the health and wellness of its employees. Perhaps more restauranteurs will venture into this territory, which in my opinion, will ultimately bring good to the hospitality industry and gastronomers all over the country.

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