Maple Launches Today and They Have Signed Up David Chang To Turn Up The Heat

Tech Disrupters Have Changed Everything From How You Reserve A Table, Get a Ride, To How You Order Groceries…and now

It’s Uber for Dinner and Its really simple approach could change how we look at food delivery. Download the app, choose one of the three daily entrées, fork over $12 to $15 – the tax and tip included, and get your meal in less time than it takes to get a pizza..yep 30 minutes or less.

Maple has cut out the middleman with future kitchens strategically to be placed around the city (Manhattan to start) to get people food as quickly as possible—Maple is not a  restaurant with delivery, it is a specifically designed kitchen that is all about delivery.

Founders, Akshay Navle and Caleb Merkl, cooked up a $26 million investment from the likes of Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, and Chang, who will serves as chief culinary officer. And because they own the entire process and don’t have the brick and mortar overhead that needs foot traffic, they can pass on the savings to your palate and pocketbook. They aren’t lining their pockets by using cheap labor either. The delivery people will be salaried at $14 an hour and will have access to health insurance, says Merkl.

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“Everything you would expect from a good farm-to-table restaurant, those are the ingredients we’re using,” says Davies, a former sous chef at Le Bernardin.

David Chang Maple App

The food, developed by Davies, has that comfort appeal yet is still elegant. The Berkshire pork tenderloin with green peppercorn sauce, for example, comes from White Oak Pasture; the accompanying mashed potatoes and green beans are sourced from small farmers. The entree and two sides are packed separately in compostable boxes so when you dig in, it is as delicious as it was when it left…and that includes fish, yes, fish!

“If you live in New York long enough, you get delivery, but you never order fish. Ever,” says Chang, who concedes that he’ll only order fish if it’s in hot Szechuan oil (from Legends in Chelsea, thanks). “And that’s what we’re trying to dispel is those food items that you would never order.”

The culinary team that Chang has assembled has quite a pedigree: Mark Ladner and Brooks Headley from Del Posto, and Dan Kluger, formerly of ABC Kitchen, who will eventually contribute menu items.

“I don’t think the future of food’s gonna take place in a restaurant, in a traditional sense,” says Chang. “To me it’s very similar to when the first dot-com thing happened and people were like, ‘There’s gonna be no more retail stores anymore. It’s done!’ No, they’re gonna be around, but this gives an option that is very important, particularly in New York City, where people work their asses off and get home and don’t want to cook. I think they should be able to know that their food’s being responsibly sourced and cooked with proper technique.”

So, how does the food taste? …..Head over to Bon Appetit for the review.

Maple, David Chang’s Food Delivery Start-Up – Bon Appetit.

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