Even if you have the time and kitchen space to cook, shopping for groceries in New York — from braving the Trader Joe’s lines to getting gouged at the gourmet bodega down the street — is enough to make you reach for the takeout menu.
But there are a number of new services looking to make home cooking easier by delivering recipes and all the ingredients to your door. Still, they don’t make it too easy.
While the services vary, all require basic cooking skills and plenty of chopping and blanching — no pre-peeled garlic or already-minced herbs here. I road-tested four services, cooking a healthy (New Year’s resolutions!) fish meal from each. Here’s how I fared.
FreshDirect
How it works: The reliable grocery delivery service also has an option that allows you to choose from tons of recipes and then automatically adds the ingredients to your cart.
Cost: Varies by recipe; for the “roasted fennel and red onion salmon” I ordered, it was $13.55 per person ($54.18 for four servings, including $5.99 delivery fee)
The tasty stuff: The huge selection of recipes and the ability to customize ingredients — i.e., an upgrade to organic fish — are big pluses, plus FreshDirect’s delivery windows are just two hours, compared to the all-day FedEx waiting game.
The unsavory bits: I received one fennel bulb and one bunch of celery labeled as fennel — the sort of thing I’ve had happen when using FreshDirect for groceries. It doesn’t have the prepackaged convenience (nor cute factor) of the other meal services; and most recipes are for a single dish, not an entire meal, leaving some meal planning to the customer. With so many different recipes, results are bound to vary — my salmon was simple and tasty but not serve-it-to-guests thrilling.
Bottom line: Surprisingly costly and only slightly more convenient than doing it all yourself.
1 out of 4 stars
Hello Fresh
How it works: Customers sign up for a weekly subscription of three dinners per week (vegetarian or meat). Each week, clients choose from five options, then receive all the ingredients, plus recipes via FedEx. Recipes are developed by Aquavit, the Michelin-starred restaurant on the Upper East Side.
Cost: $12.52 per person, per meal ($75.13 for three meals for two people, delivery included)
The tasty stuff: The mustard-glazed fish with quinoa was super simple and the oven-roasting method was foolproof, resulting in fish that was delightfully tender. Enough quinoa for six people.
The unsavory bits: Lacking in color and vegetables. Sauces came in fast-food-style packets.
Bottom line: Good for families, not foodies.
2 out of 4 stars
Blue Apron
How it works: Like Hello Fresh, this 6-month-old Willliamsburg-based company offers a three-meal-per-week plan delivered via FedEx. Customers can choose from a vegetarian or meat/fish plan, but there are just three options for each plan each week.
Cost: $9.99 per person per meal ($59.94 for three meals for two people, delivery included)
The tasty stuff: With protein, grain and veggies, the seared flounder with green bean salad and millet was the most complete of all the meals. The bean salad had both green beans and yellow wax beans, making for a colorful mix. Plus, the company sources from high-quality purveyors, like Pat LaFrieda beef. The packaging was attractive, too — no sauce packets in sight.
The unsavory bits: Searing the fish made it easy to overcook — I did. It still tasted good, though, especially when accompanied by the beans in a tarragon-chive dressing. Between cooking the millet, blanching the beans, making the salad dressing and searing the fish, there were lots of dirty dishes.
Bottom line: With higher-end ingredients at a reasonable price, this was the overall winner and left me contemplating a subscription.
3 out of 4 stars
Chef Day
How it works: A brand-new Bushwick-based service allows customers to order a la carte meals by delivery to cook at home, rather than relying on a subscription model. A different working chef develops each recipe, and there’s an online demonstration video for each, in addition to a written recipe, giving this service more of a cooking-class feeling. Local delivery is provided in two- hour windows.
Cost: $17.48 per person ($34.95 for a dinner for two, delivery included)
The tasty stuff: With beautiful packaging — craft paper, an adorable little bottle of creme fraiche — and the instructional video dialed up on my iPad, this experience felt more suited to a special occasion than worknight cooking. In the video, chef Chris Leahy from Lexington Brass restaurant provided tips — like mixing together different mustards to give the sauce complexity. The meal, asparagus-stuffed salmon and an heirloom tomato salad, was delicious and elegantly presented.
The unsavory bits: The instructional video skipped over some steps, leaving me going back and forth between it and the written recipe. It’s comparatively expensive and there are currently just six recipes to choose from, but there are plans to add a further five in the next month. Our delivery ran a couple of hours late, but they called to inform me.
Bottom line: This fledgling service is charming and its food is delectable, but it’s more suited to date-night.
2 out of 4 stars
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