Bringing the Kitchen to Foodies
Dinner parties are being made a whole lot easier thanks to the team behind a new company that is bringing diners and chefs together.
Kitchit launched late last year and serves as an online dining community for its members, offering unique private dining experiences with world-renowned chefs. “The website links members to chefs. They can select a date, the number of people in the party and what type of event they have in mind and select from a bevy of chefs,” said Kitchit CEO and Co-Founder Brendan Marshall. “The pricing depends on the chef. But our members can use Kitchit to plan out all the details with the chef, as the website allows for constant communication online until the day of the event.”
Marshall, along with Ian Ferguson and George Tang, started the company in 2010 as a way for users to create their own bespoke dining experience. “It is a highly customizable experience, from menu to ambience. The chef works with the member to tailor the entire experience to that person’s preferences,” Marshall said. “We want our members to be able to enjoy a memorable dinner party without all the hassle that comes with preparing for it.”
Kitchit has a large and diverse group of chefs it is working with, each hand-picked and interviewed before joining the team. Several of the names are highly recognizable in the Bay Area dining community, including Traci Des Jardins, chef/owner of Jardinière, Joshua Skenes from Saison and Christopher Kostow with The Restaurant at Meadowood. “Our lists of chefs runs the gambit. You have chefs from highly acclaimed restaurants, who are looking to get out of their kitchen one day a week, while making a little extra money on the side. And then you have chefs who are trying to make a name for themselves and build connections and contacts within the culinary community,” said Marshall. “A lot of them are private chefs who want to venture out to try different things and experiment with new dishes based on the member’s needs. This gives them the freedom to do that in a unique setting and out of their normal environment.”
Before you think that these dining experiences are only for the rich and famous, Marshall said that moneywise, the amount spent is almost the same as what customers would spend on a meal out at a restaurant. The only difference is that nearly the entire bill goes directly to the chef rather than to the restaurant’s overhead and management.
Kitchit’s core belief is that it is hard to trump an unforgettable dining experience with great company which is exactly what the company hopes to offer.
Photo Credit: Kitchit
[…] Kitchit, which pairs consumers directly with professional chefs for anything from gastronomical adventures to dinner parties, is pairing up with A Temporary Offering (A.T.O.) on a series of pop-up dinners on Saturday nights. […]