The Early Bird Gets the Worm

We are always on the look out for how we can make meals more affordable while still maintaining the high quality and great taste our meals are known for. This new offering does exactly that.

Enjoy up to 20% off of our already low priced meals when placing your order by 10:00AM the day before. For example, a meal priced at $13.99 only costs $11.99 when you order early (that's approximately 14% off). A meal at $15.99 regular price might go for just $12.99 which is 19% off.

By placing an order earlier, chefs have more time to prepare for your meal. They can procure ingredients more efficiently and set them aside for you. This early foresight can often result in savings, which is then passed directly to you.

So go ahead and place your order early and enjoy the early bird discount. Your chefs will thank you.

From Phone to Fork

A few months ago, we took a support call from a customer named Jill. Her call echoed many others we’ve received in the past: a hurried mom with a crying baby you could hear in the background. She didn’t even have a minute to get in front of a computer, but needed a way to order Munchery while she was on the go. Jill’s story, and many like it, have been constantly on our minds while designing the Munchery app. It had to be convenient and extraordinary when putting your order, unlike the other complicated "food ordering" apps out there. After extensive testing, we’re pretty confident that you can get an amazing dinner added to your cart and checked out before you even finish reading this sentence. For everyone who struggles to find balance in their day it doesn’t get easier than this.

The first time you launch the Munchery app, you’ll be taken through a brief introductory tour where you’ll also be invited to enable Meal Notifications. We often receive customer feedback that they’re not always at their desk and miss our daily menu when it arrives via email. By the time they check our site sometimes their favorite foods are already sold out. Our Meal Notifications use Apple’s push technology to conveniently alert you to new offerings daily on our ever changing menu. Yup, finally a food app that actually gets you real food! So, say goodbye to all those burrito, pizza and takeout apps. Phone to Fork is here.

In addition to launching our iPhone app, we also wanted to do something real special for everyone. New to this week's chef showcase are Chefs Johnny Honda and Chef Mark Hayashida, who are crafting a jaw-dropping sushi and soba spread featuring sustainable Doch Luart salmon, local hamachi and a rainbow selection of seasonal vegetables. This is Japanese cuisine at its best delivered to you.

And finally, to celebrate the Munchery app launch, new and existing customers will receive 70% off (for orders up to $50 prior to the discount) on their first order made using the iPhone app. The promotion is valid until 5/19/2012 and is limited to one per household. Just use the promotional code PHONE2FORK when you place an order. It’s our way of making your first "phone to fork" experience a special one. Undoubtedly, the first of many to come. Please help us spread the word, and show off the Munchery app to your friends.

Download Munchery from the App Store

(Don't forget to rate the app as well!)

Are you excited as we are? Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. We need all the support we can get!

Meet Chef Michelle Harrison

Chef Harrison's extensive kitchen knowledge stems from years of professional catering experience ranging from large corporate events to personal meal services for busy executives. Michelle describes her food style as "global comfort food" and we couldn't agree more with this statement.

You'll probably recognize this chef's creative food from past Munchery offerings such as the extremely popular roasted Dungeness crab and garlic noodle feast, the always in high-demand meatloaf with smashed red bliss potatoes, or her stunning grilled red snapper with rice pilaf. Fabulous, perfectly moist and flavorful, unexpected, and outstanding are just a handful of adjectives that past customers have used when describing this chef's tempting menus.

One of Michelle's earliest food related memories surrounds eating with her mother and father. Chef Harrison fondly recalls a trio of skillets in blue, orange, and green that nested inside the other from large to small. Each day breakfast would be prepared and served in those pans. Michelle's mother made her eggs just the way she liked them, soft but well cooked. While her father enjoyed his more on the runny side. A preference that five-year-old Michelle found horrifying at the time. Years later she would witness Jacques Pépin make his eggs in the very same manner but it didn't help her father's case. Today Michelle still owns the medium-sized green skillet.

When asked to reveal a chef that she would most like to cook with Harrison readily offered up the queen of creole cuisine, Leah Chase. Michelle explained that creole cooks from Chase's generation have a knack for making complex tasting dishes with magical simplicity and she'd love to know all of her techniques and secrets. We think we'd loved to sample any of Chef Harrison's experiments in this area. Should we pass around a sign-up sheet?

If you happen to hear strains of salsa music coming from the next room then chances are this chef is hard at work. Michelle's refrigerator is certainly stocked for recipe creation. We're curious to find out what she intends to do with her array of sausage and peppers, bok choy, grapefruit, homemade sweet tea and pickles. Don't worry! We're certain they all aren't going into a one pot concoction.

You can check out Chef Harrison's past menus online and order her meals weekly via our website.

Come Pin With Us!

We're excited to announce today that Munchery is now on Pinterest. We've been pinning our little hearts out and we're totally smitten with the system. In addition, our website is now fully pinable. If you see food on the site that tickles your fancy, simply click on the cheery red Pinterest icon and add it to a board.

Honestly, sometimes it's hard to tear ourselves away from all of those eye-popping images of delicious meals, but then we remember that our chefs make food all week long that looks just as spectacular. Plus, you can actually taste our dishes without a trip to the grocery store and an elaborate evening of chopping, cooking, and dirty dish clean-up.

If you're a fellow Pinterest user please consider following our boards. You can catch-up on old favorites, check out new meals to save for later dinner dates, or even share your most wanted edible pins with us. We'd love seeing what your dream meals would be, and who knows….maybe you'll inspire one of our chefs to prepare it. Happy pinning!

Here's to the Crazy Ones

We know who you are. You are the small guys with the big plans. You are the startup that's keeping it lean, doing all you can to take a great idea from concept to business. You are working long days (and nights) without a clear end in sight. It's grueling. At Munchery, we are here for you because we are you. We are right there alongside you, working hard to disrupt and change the world.

We want to do our part to support the startup community, so we're launching Munchery for Small Teams. If you are a San Francisco-based startup with 5 or fewer employees, dinner is on us. And if your team is more than 5 members strong, the first 5 meals are complimentary and we’ll discount the rest. No gimmicks, no games. There's no beating around the bush -- of course we hope you enjoy the food and service and come back for more. You be the judge. There won't be any hard selling from us.

Munchery’s talented network of local chefs prepare well-balanced meals every day that we deliver straight to the office or homes of countless hard working professionals. We offer a nice alternative to traditional takeout. So, go ahead and have a taste for yourself.

Getting started is simple:

1. Go to munchery.com/office and fill out the form.
2. We’ll notify you when you are set up to receive your first meal free of charge.

ENJOY!

Meet Chef Jaime Love

Jaime grew up in Los Angeles with an executive chef as her dad so she's known her way around the kitchen since she could pretty much walk. In fact, one of her earliest memories involves building forts from the gigantic condiment jars in the restaurant's walk-in and passing her father apples to make into fresh juice. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Jaime's mom taught her how to read cookbooks, follow recipes, and prepare meals for the family. Needless to say, both parents contributed heavily to her passion for food.

These days Chef Love tends to get her recipes online, instead of from traditional books, and her laptop definitely has been known to get a little messy in the process. When she does reach for something from a shelf though it's usually The Joy of Cooking. Jaime loves that the recipes don't try to make cooking too simple as she thoroughly enjoys a good kitchen challenge.

When it comes to ingredients, this chef is counting down the days until strawberries and heirloom tomatoes are fully back in season. Jamie also loves checking out the little restaurant stands at farmers markets for some fine foodie eats. She's also a fan of picking up fresh fish from vendors when it's available, but cautions that you should always checkout seller's credentials before making purchases.

Back at home, Chef Love readily admits that her fridge might be a tad on the cluttered side right now but that's just because she has so many projects in the works. At any given moment you might find anything from homemade whipped cream and frosting to cilantro, beer, and lemons. There's even some cookie dough that's waiting to be baked off. We think that if she needs assistane with cleaning up that dish we'd all heartily volunteer. One thing you won't find housed in a container anytime soon would be snails. Hopefully none of you were hoping for a Munchery version of escargot!

When Jaime isn't watching Julie and Julia (you know you love that movie too) she's hard at work finishing up a bachelor's degree in the hospitality field.

You can purchase Chef Love's meals online and follow along with her extensive up-to-the minute culinary adventures via Twitter. 

Meet Chef Holly Erickson

You most likely recognize Holly via her creamy chicken pot pie, various Russian inspired dishes, or perhaps her delicious Valentine's Day meal of roast chicken and Champagne creme fraiche. How precious are those carefully crafted heart-shaped beets?

Chef Erickson actually grew up in San Francisco's Richmond district intently watching her grandmother construct delicate and tangy lemon meringue pies. Not only was her home life filled with delicious hand made treats, but this budding cook also attended a school where everything from doughnuts to sandwich buns were made from scratch. That's a far cry from today's frozen food and pre-packaged cafeteria offerings. While many of us might consider chicken noodle soup or a hamburger the ultimate in comfort food, Holly was raised on borscht and piroshki and loves to introduce hungry diners to these unfamiliar dishes whenever she has the chance.

Of course, this chef's tastes go beyond those nostalgic family meals. These days you'll always find bubbly champagne in her fridge as well as good parmesan cheese, homemade marmalade, puff pastry, and oodles of olives. Sounds like a snackers dream doesn't it? The one thing you probably won't find tucked in her overflowing with organics crisper are hot peppers. While our chef likes her cinema spicy she'd rather abstain from incorporating those particular fiery veggies in her recipes.

You can purchase Chef Erickson's meals online and follow along with her continued literary and pop culture driven adventures at her food blog Lights! Camera! Cuisine! We especially recommend that you take the time to check out her Downton Abbey posts. We feel a theme night in out future, don't you? 

Meet Chef Young Tran

Chef Tran makes his Munchery debut today with a dish that's knocking our socks off in both the looks and taste department. Young's Ancho Stewed Pork will surely sell out so we'll give you a moment to pop over to our website to stake your place in the dinner line before filling you in this brand new addition to the kitchen. All set? Let's continue! 

Chef Tran's fondness for food dates back to his childhood when he would diligently help his grandfather tend the family garden. His favorite memory of this time involved picking and preparing baby lettuce for dinner. Fast-forward to today and this little farmer is all grown-up with an organic garden of his own. Here he pays tribute to those nostalgic days by fertilizing his plot with home-cured compost and even plants a very unique variety of heirloom cranberry beans.

Young has both volunteered and worked in a large array of local kitchens including Chez Panisse, Oliveto, Gather Restaurant, and Acquacotta. That's a lot of chefs to please! On the subject of chefs, when asked which celebrated ktchen denizen he'd most like to cook with, Tran indicated that Paul Bertolli would be his top choice and he'd love to butcher an entire hog and make homemade prosciutto with him. Perhaps Chef Tran and Chef Bertolli could then serve this special meat at a jointly thrown dinner party?

When we asked our newest chef whom he would most like to invite to this imaginary dinner party (they could be real or fictional, alive or deceased) he promptly listed a group consisting of writer C.S. Lewis, President Obama, Michael Pollan, and Rembrandt. Chef Tran further elaborated that he would cook grilled rack of lamb with roasted heirloom carrots and kamut for this eclectic crew. Wouldn't you like to observe that party reality TV style?

After Young tackles the farmers markets for heirloom tomatoes, chicories, figs and stone fruits he likes to rock out in his kitchen to Switchfoot where, if he can help it, he rarely uses celery. 

Meet Chef Maggie Lawson

Chef Maggie Lawson has been working as a personal chef and nutrition educator in Berkeley and Oakland since 2004. Maggie joined the Munchery team last summer and made quite the impression with her self-proclaimed signature dish of Shittake Meatloaf. A meal that was inspired by a recipe her mom made when she was little but now, admittedly, is crafted with more upscale ingredients like Rosie's organic ground chicken, Niman Ranch ground beef, and locally grown mushrooms. Now that's a meatloaf to write home about!

Maggie's love of food and cooking began at a young age. She very fondly recalls her mother creating meals on many occasions during the busy week so that they could share food together as a family. Coincidentally, Maggie's culinary prowess may have also been influenced by her very much alive and healthy 102 year-old great grandmother from Ohio who once lived down the street from Marion Rombauer Becker. Becker co-wrote many editions of the classic cookbook The Joy of Cooking with her mother Irma and this wonderful tome is now one of Chef Lawson's most treasured references. Especially significant to Maggie's family is the recipe for Cincinnati Chili in the book. Maybe if we leave lots of encouraging comments we can talk her into making a batch one week?

When Maggie isn't in the kitchen, crafting fantastic healthy meals for her customers while dancing around to Shakira, she can be found scouring the famers markets for seasonal asparagus, enjoying brunch at Aunt Mary's Cafe, or giving us recommendations on German foodie films. Soul Kitchen, anyone?

You can order meals from Maggie each week and also follow her adventures online via her website, blog, and Facebook account. Chef Lawson also currently has a Kickstarter campaign running. Check out the details here, and learn about her pop-up restaurant experience happening in June. 

Customers: where they are and how much they tip

Where Meals Are Delivered
We have always had a good hunch where our customers were located. But enough of gut decisions; we wanted to confirm it.

For the past year Munchery has served thousands of meals across the beautiful city of San Francisco and we wanted to take a closer look at the data. Here's a peek at what the order geography looks like today:

We are thrilled to report that we have fulfilled orders from every possible ZIP code in San Francisco, including Treasure Island. Honestly, we didn't even know that Treasure Island was officially part of San Francisco when we first started Munchery.

To satisfy our own curiosity, we overlayed the previous order chart with the distribution of our customer base across all the neighborhoods. We want to see which neighborhoods have a larger customer base than others, and check whether there are any big discrepancies (such as a small percentage of customers ordering a lot, or a large percentage of customers making few orders). The below chart shows that for the most part, percentages of orders and customers align.

SOMA is King
Currently one neighborhood dominates in the Munchery statistics: SOMA. It’s a large one too. Random urban trivia for today: SOMA has not one, not two, but three separate ZIP codes: 94103 (“classic” SOMA?), 94105 (towards Embarcadero), and 94107, which overlaps with Potrero Hill! See the map below if you are not familiar with the area. In reality the bar chart for SOMA would be off the charts if we were to combine these three zones together.

Why SOMA?
As many of you are aware SOMA is one of the top areas in the city for new business growth. It has plenty of modernized office space at reasonable prices, plus it's near many transportation hubs including Caltrain, BART, Muni and freeway access.

Munchery's early adopters are busy professionals, many of whom are startup entrepreneurs working long hours that left them little time for shopping, prepping and cooking food. They were screaming for an alternative to greasy takeout. Knowing that our delicious meals bring joy to the people hatching bold, new ideas positively gives us goosebumps! The additional added convenience of online ordering, reliable delivery, and affordability over almost any other similar option makes us a no-brainer mealtime decision. We sincerely thank these early adopters for their continued support.

Of course, we are quickly spreading out from SOMA. There's recognizable growth in Russian Hill and Nob Hill, followed by the Mission and Bernal neighborhoods.

The Delight of New Parents
Customers from Noe Valley make up another key group: many of them have young children (yup, this fits the family-friendly stereotype that Noe has). But of course we have parents as customers all over town. In case you didn't know, San Francisco is not a family-dominated city. Only about 58,000 households have children (versus 265,000 households that don't). Out of these 58,000 households, we are delighted to serve this group since they arguably need our service the most (our gift cards are also a super popular gift for new parents).

Who Tips And How Much
This is a sensitive topic for everyone. Shortly after we provided customers the ability to tip our delivery drivers online via their credit card, we took extra measures to ensure each customer is treated with the highest level of service, regardless of their tipping rate. Our billing system ensures that we are blind to that data on a per-customer basis. But as an aggregate, we couldn’t help but take a peek at how the tipping data we do have aligns with geography. Here’s the complete chart with the median tip dollar amount per order.

Keep in mind that this data only accounts for credit card tips, and does not include cash tips that many of our generous customers also give out. Nevertheless, we just think it's interesting to look at the aggregate data (we're all geeks). A typical credit card tip is about $3 to $5 per order.

So, how else do we interpret all this data? It's interesting, but I think that's about it. It's not something we want to over-analyze or come to any hasty conclusions about. As we look at the geographical distribution, it only emboldens our efforts to democratize the personal chef experience.