Amidst the chefs prepping the day’s meals in this Corktown kitchen, there is every element of a bustling restaurant about to start service — except for tables and chairs.
The ingredients for Feast’s tuna Niçoise salad, sliced and diced by sous-chefs
“Our dining room is all of Toronto,” says Paul Cowan,chief marketing officer for Feast, a five-month-old app-based meal-delivery service whose executive chef is Curt Martin, formerly of the Harbord Room. Monday to Friday, for lunch and dinner, Feast shuttles hundreds of healthy, prepared-to-order meals around the city, each one made from locally sourced ingredients.
“We want to take out the thought around, How do I eat well?” says Cowan. The app displays each meal in an eye-catching photo and details its ingredients. Service can be as quick as five minutes. Rain or shine, Feast’s couriers use hybrid cars and Danish cargo bikes to deliver meals from Lakeshore to College, Dufferin to the DVP, and a small stretch on Bloor. “Some of these guys are just gladiators when it comes to working through the elements.”
Cowan says the most popular dishes right now are the steak Cobb and Mexican chopped salads, but the menu changes daily. Orders can also be made online. “We want to make it dead simple. I just need to tap the app three times and my food’s going to come, and I know it’s going to be healthy and restaurant quality.”
This story is from our Summer 2016 issue.
Photography courtesy of Feast