photo: Christina Mitchell
Have you heard of all of those weekly food delivery services in San Francisco? There’s Munchery, Spring and others and they offer an organic, sustainable and easy solution for dinner. Unfortunately, most of them don’t serve the East Bay, so I was interested to hear about Tablerunner, which just launched about a week and a half ago.
photo: Christina Mitchell
Prepared dinners are shipped weekly through UPS, so the delivery area is a lot bigger – it covers most of Northern California and parts of Nevada. They sent me a complementary 6 meal package, which usually goes for $75. Thanks Tablerunner! When I got home that evening, this box of food was waiting for me.
photo: Christina Mitchell
This is what it looked like inside the box. The meals arrived cold and individually portioned in tins, ready to be reheated. It was kind of exciting to see what the chef prepared, but it also seemed like a lot of waste and I’m not sure if that reflective material lining the inside of the box can be recycled.
Tablerunner really took the stress out of dinner. I mean, the hardest part was deciding on a meal. All you do is peel off the plastic, throw it in the oven, set a timer and it’s ready 20-25 minutes later. The food was “inspired by seasonal ingredients from local farms” and it was familiar enough to be comforting but unique enough to feel special. The in-house chefs have experience at five star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants and this talent is obvious because most of the dinners emerged from the oven perfectly-cooked.
photo: Christina Mitchell
Monday
Chicken Piccata-Style Breast with Wild Mushroom Sardinian Couscous, Sauteed Spinach and Caperberry Relish – The chicken breast surprisingly wasn’t dried out and everything else had flavor. Impressive!
photo: Christina Mitchell
Tuesday
Maple Glazed Pork Loin with Honey Compound Butter, Grilled Treviso, Black Eyed Peas and Mustard Greens – Tender pork, seasoned legumes and honey butter? Yes please!
photo: Christina Mitchell
Wednesday
Rosemary Braised Short Rib with Horseradish Herb Mashed Potato, King Trumpet Mushrooms – This was my favorite meal of the week. The meat was fork tender, enveloped in a silky sauce and complemented with a cloud of fluffy potatoes.
Thursday
I went out to dinner and it was a nice change of pace.
photo: Christina Mitchell
Friday
Pan Seared King Trumpet Mushrooms with Thyme Roasted Mushroom Quinoa Lemon Olive Oil and Asparagus – This was my least favorite dish. Vegetarian meals can be satisfying, but this one was not. All of the components weren’t seasoned and it felt like something was missing.
photo: Christina Mitchell
Saturday
Bolognese Baked Rigatoni with Baby Spinach, Parmigiano Reggiano – It tasted like the sauce had been simmering all day and the pasta came out of the oven with some cheesy crispy bits on top!
photo: Christina Mitchell
Sunday
Fricassee of Smoked Chicken with Braised Eggplant, Pecan Green Lentils – This was just ok because the one-note, mushy eggplant overpowered the dish.
Still, it was nice to have dinner taken care of for the week. Most of the food was pretty solid, even after being reheated and it’s made with local, seasonal ingredients. If you have extra cash but no extra time, you might want to check it out!
Christina Mitchell
Latest posts by Christina Mitchell (see all)
- La Casita: Food for the Soul - September 28, 2018
- How To Cook Vietnamese Sausage - September 7, 2018
- Let’s get it started… - September 6, 2018