#WCW: Ara Galarza’s Eat in Chef Brings Pro Cooks to Your Kitchen

In recent years, food delivery services have become a staple in our “almost-too-busy-to-eat” lifestyles. Popular services, including Seamless, GrubHub, and Blue Apron, offer quick, convenient access to every conceivable cuisine.

There is one service, however, that has yet to be addressed: None of these companies offer the dining experience of a restaurant, with meals hand-crafted by a chef and delivered to your table fresh. Enter Eat in Chef, a community that connects you with local chefs who bring both the food and the experience to your home kitchen.

This week’s Woman Crush Wednesday is Ara Galarza, co-founder of the company and overall lover of food and drink. We chatted with the Puerto Rican powerhouse about the business, changing the face of food, and more. Read it to see why she’s our #WCW of the week! [pagebreak]

Tell us about your upbringing and family background. When did you first become involved in or interested in food?

I was born in the Bronx and moved down to Miami with my mother and brother when I was 12. I was an entrepreneur in the making. I sold my first Blow Pop 21 years ago in South Florida. The corner of my middle school cafeteria seemed like a suitable office for kids who had no idea what bodegas were. I was making $25 a day and netting 40% on every box. I was hustling Airheads, Twix, Snickers, Nestle Crunch, and Blow Pops to meet a growing demand.

I’ve been cooking for others for twelve years; during my free time, I’d cook for dinner parties and hated cooking after work. I got my first job at 14 at a hamburger joint in the mall by my house called Flamers. I started garnishing buns and worked my way up to cashier quickly. We had the longest line in the food court. Once in a while, the owner would let me grill. That’s when I fell in love with grilling.

How did you and other co-founders think of Eat in Chef? Tell us about the creation process.

Three years ago, my co-founder [Larry] and I were roommates and we tossed ideas around for weeks until we settled on an on-demand dry cleaning app. We went to work: secured a domain, brainstormed a logo, and mapped out our user experience. A month after coming up with our app idea, I was binge-watching Food Network and realized that there was an obvious, yet overlooked, problem in the culinary sector.

I called Larry, loudly and enthusiastically, about the big problem we were meant to solve – we’re going to figure out a way to make personal chefs accessible for everyday people. Pragmatic Larry wasn’t so pleased about changing direction in the middle of the project, but the entrepreneur Larry loved the idea even more and he was all in. Next day, we cranked away through dozens of names and sites until the moment he turned to me and calmly said, “Eat In Chef.” After six months, we were incorporated, had created our logo, and established a pipeline for chefs via our alliances with the Institute of Culinary Education and International Culinary Center. [pagebreak]

What’s most important to the company when it comes to feeding customers?

Eat In Chef wants each client to have an unforgettable experience throughout the entire process. From the ease of booking a chef, to the savoring of every homemade bite, our purpose is to increase access to affordable, high quality food for those who work hard, care about a wellness routine, and want to reward themselves. Research shows that our mood, attitude, and the way we treat others are a result of the quality of food we put in our bodies. Food is love, love is happiness, and our Eat In Chef community pays it forward. We want our clients to enjoy themselves so much that they can’t help but tell their friends because having a chef in your kitchen is something to experience at least once. Eat In Chef is about the interaction that can’t be found anywhere else but in one’s own home. 

Why do you think customers are so drawn to the service? Do the meals prepared compare to homemade, authentic ones that we can remember from abuela’s kitchen?

We think customers are drawn to EIC because it’s an experience that allows them to enjoy a home-cooked meal without the hassle of cooking. A chef preparing and plating in your home is a foreign concept to most people. While no chef can beat abuela’s home-cooking, our chefs do come close. Just take a look at the photos from #eatinpopup! Our chefs are some of the most creative and passionate professionals in the industry; inventing dishes like Chef Howard’s mushroom risotto served in a parmesan cheese bowl. [pagebreak]

What are some of your favorite food & drinks, both in general and that you’ve tried from the service?

I love authentic Mexican tacos. Indian food excites me; specifically, lamb vindaloo. I can eat barbecue everyday – dry-rub ribs, brisket, pulled pork, baked beans, and collard greens. Braised short rib with porcini-port wine sauce on a bed of parsnip puree is my absolute favorite dish. As for drinks, I enjoy dirty martinis and old fashioneds, which I prefer to make myself. Tequila is my spirit of choice and I always enjoy a nice Corralejo Reposado neat. Above all, I enjoy meals that are prepared thoughtfully and with love.

Since starting EIC and enjoying menus prepared by four and five star chefs privately, I find myself enjoying restaurants less. Dining shouldn’t be hit or miss. I don’t care if a restaurant is having an off night, or that my meal-kit sits at my doorstep because it arrived early, or that delivery guy got lost. I want my food delicious, fresh, and hot all the time. To ensure my expectations are met at scale, I decided to figure out a way to bring the creators of food into the homes of everyday people. Eat In Chef will change the face of eating because eating is personal.

How do you think Eat in Chef and other services like it are changing the face of food?

Society’s relationship with food is changing. From meal-kits delivered for the aspiring cook to ordering delivery from any mobile device, people demand access to food faster and easier. Eat In Chef is unique because diners do not consider hiring a personal chef as a food option.