There’s a delicate contradiction in home kitchens these days: People are cooking more at home, but they’re also busier than ever. The compromise is seeking out quick meals that home cooks can prepare themselves, which is why companies like Blue Apron and Plated are insanely popular, sending out millions of meals per month and reeling in far more than that in revenue.
And now, thanks to Kitchn Synch, those who eat kosher can participate in the home-delivery frenzy. The New York-based service delivers glatt-kosher meals to doorsteps in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and—most recently—Boston.
The brains behind the operation is Douglas Soclof, the founder of Dougie’s BBQ & Grill, a popular kosher barbecue concept with three outposts nationwide. Soclof may be seizing the opportunity to cater to the millions of kosher households across the country, but he aims to appeal to anyone who wants high-quality food delivered to their door—kosher or not. And the recipes that Kitchn Synch offers, including chicken lettuce wraps with quinoa pancakes and basil Thai beef, should catch the eye of anyone looking for sophisticated yet easy-to-prepare meals, whether or not they abide by kosher laws.
The concept is a good one, of course, but the true test is the food. I ordered three meals: the aforementioned lettuce wraps and Thai beef, plus a kid-friendly dish of pretzel chicken fingers. The box arrived well before I got home from work, but everything stayed cold and in good condition until I finally unpacked the pre-measured and labeled ingredients. Also inside were the three recipe cards, which featured photos of the ingredients, step-by-step recipe tutorials, and useful “Synch Secrets,” such as instructions on how to bake the chicken fingers instead of shallow-frying them. (I opted to fry.)
Many recipes that claim to take less than an hour don’t deliver on that promise. I was happy to find that with these three recipes, that wasn’t the case. The instructions are approachable and unintimidating for a novice cook, and each took about the 45 minutes it promised.
Best of all, the finished plates—especially the main dishes—tasted good and looked nice. Each had a variety of colors and textures, and the portions were generous. (I had leftovers of each meal.) All three main dishes are ones I would incorporate into my repertoire, and I’ve remade the creamy maple dip that came with the chicken fingers because it was such a crowd-pleaser.
So if you know your way around a kitchen but can’t find time to plan and shop for every meal, I would recommend looking into Kitchn Synch. Check out the yummy meals I tried below!
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