Black Kitchens, your food hides in shadows
Waiters, tables, and chairs disappear, leaving only the kitchens. With no seating capacity, the main focus of these restaurants is selling meals exclusively through delivery. These restaurants located all around the world are secret. Nobody really knows were they are, and people aren’t actually allowed to visit them since there is no dining room.
Since the pandemic people started ordering more food, especially during the lockdown when restaurants had to reimagine their business. Many restaurants have grown an efficient method that focuses on delivering everything for their customers. This benefits not only the customers but also the restaurant. It provides a quality delivery service for the customer and efficiency and growth to the restaurant.
Due to the high demand big restaurants have, some of them implemented this system of black kitchens, a distributed strategy throughout the entire city in order to improve their services. This means that if you order food from some popular restaurants like Dembow or Brunch and Munch the food is probably made in black kitchens.
Foodology
Foodology is a company operating Medellin, Brazil, Peru and Mexico that designed a network for restaurants that sell only delivery. CEO Daniela Izquierdo had an idea of mixing a passion for gastronomy and technology. The food industry was always something she and her co-founder were really interested in, but one aspect they did not like as much was traditional restaurants. They wanted to create something innovative and new. That is how they came up with the idea of creating a company with different restaurants that would sell their food as delivery only. Foodology works on improving what other take-out restaurants provide, cold food prepared incorrectly, long waiting times, and bad service in general.
Classic Burger delivered by Rappi.
Dembow gained a lot of fame since the owner of the restaurant is a renowned singer Maluma. No one ever imagined that the artist would create a fast-food restaurant, inspired by the combination of cultures, rhythms, colors, and flavors. Before we tried this restaurant we got many comments from people saying it was not worth it, and the prices were too high. The burgers are actually really good but not enough for us to say that it accomplishes the goal of the restaurant. They were expensive, approximately $40.000 COP each, way too much for a simple burger with some Coke and fries on the side. The fries were really good, with the perfect seasoning and the serving size was fair. The meat was perfectly cooked with the cheese melting onto the sides and the order arrived on time and had nice packaging.
Burrito al Pastor delivered by Rappi.
The amount of different flavors this burrito had is indescribable. Every bite of this burrito was full of different flavors which made the experience pleasant. The vegetables were fresh, the frijoles were calientitos, and the meat had a touch of spice. Every little detail made this meal special. Of course, there were some aspects that could be improved, but all in all, it is a restaurant that anyone who is into Mexican gastronomy should order from. Besides the quality of the food, prices were reasonable around $20.000 COP each and the order took around 40 minutes. The packaging kept the food hot until we received it. We were mostly worried about the size, seeing as many Mexican restaurants serve their burritos XXL, which is very overwhelming. This restaurant serves the perfect size, not too big, not too small, and perfect to eat with someone or alone.
Craving a different option for brunch and breakfast? Brunch & Munch could be a perfect match for you. Their menu consists of sweet and salty food ideal for those who want something out of the ordinary. Brunch & Munch can be ordered from Uber Eats, Rappi, or their online website. On this occasion, we opted for Rappi. The order took approximately 40 minutes and it arrived well-packed. This gave us high expectations for our order, an açaí bowl and oatmeal pancakes. When we opened the food we noticed that the açaí was a little melted but nothing to worry about due to the amazing flavor. Everything balanced perfectly, not too sweet, not too salty. It was a delicious açaí bowl, with granola, strawberries, and blueberries. The oatmeal pancakes were mindblowing and arrived warm and fresh. They came with syrup and strawberries, a perfect complement. Portions were appropriate and could feed two people, or one hungry person. Overall, this is a great option for ordering brunch on weekends or just to satisfy a food craving.
“The crunchiest pizza.” This is what The Crunch says they offered so while hanging out with some friends we decided to test their motto. We ordered a pepperoni pizza through Rappi, and it took approximately 1 1/2 hours for a single pizza to arrive on a Wednesday, not a busy night. When we opened the box it was not what we expected. The cheese and pepperoni were everywhere except on the pizza. Based solely on appearance, we did not have high expectations for the taste. And we were right, the pizza is not crunchy. It came undercooked, the dough was tough and difficult to eat and from the first bite it fell apart leaving a mess. It is important to mention that the order arrived cold. We hoped for more. The Crunch offers different pizza flavors which are unique and spicy and also offer wings as an alternative which is not as common in a pizza place.
Overall Black Kitchens are a new thing in the modern world of food. Many things can be enhanced but the idea is amazing. Foodology has a great concept and a big future ahead but after trying their food many things can be improved. The quality is not consistent, but we recommend giving it a try. It is something out of the ordinary with many good things to try.
Work Cited
“What’s a Dark Kitchen? (2023).” Deliverect, https://www.deliverect.com/en/blog/dark-kitchens/what-is-a-dark-kitchen.
Pintle, Fernanda. “Foodology Busca Crear La Red De Cocinas Ocultas Más Grande En La Región.” Business Insider México | Noticias Pensadas Para Ti, 18 Feb. 2022, https://businessinsider.mx/foodology-cocinas-ocultas-delivery-america-latina_startups/%C2%A0.
Vargas, Andrea. “Foodology Nueva Empresa Que Se Une a Endeavor Colombia.” Endeavor Colombia, 28 Apr. 2022, https://www.endeavor.org.co/novedades/foodology-se-une-a-endeavor-colombia/.
S.A.S., Editorial La República. “Foodology, La Startup Colombiana Ganadora Del Premio Al Emprendimiento De Harvard.” Diario La República, https://www.larepublica.co/empresas/foodology-la-startup-colombiana-ganadora-del-premio-al-emprendimiento-de-harvard-2994346.
