The Dish: New startup In Good Company delivering frozen family meals from local restaurants - The San Diego Union-Tribune

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In Good Company, a new startup business aiming to help struggling San Diego restaurants get their products to customers, launched Monday with a line of five frozen family meals delivered to customers’ doorsteps.

For this month’s debut, diners can order a packaged meal in a reusable tin — which can serve two to three people — from Juniper & Ivy, Galaxy Taco, Ranch 45, Viewpoing Brewing Co. or Luckybolt. This month’s menu options include shepherd’s and pot pies, braised beef stew, Brandt Beef lasagna and braised pork and beans.

Ashleigh Ferran, CEO and founder of In Good Company said the industry is rushing to come up with “outside the box” and creative solutions to survive.

“We wanted to make it easy for people to create wonderful dinners at home while supporting local chefs they love without having to rely on take-out every time they want restaurant quality food,” Ferran said.

Ferran said these packaged meals, priced at $35, return a good profit margin to restaurants, which have been stung this year by the 20 percent to 30 percent cut of sales that go to third-party delivery services. Because all In Good Company sales are through pre-order, there’s no food waste, and all dishes come frozen in stainless steel containers which can go right in the oven, so there’s no packaging waste.

The first collection of meals are now on sale through Saturday, Dec. 12. Delivery in San Diego County is free with purchase of three or more meals. Deliveries will be made on Dec. 17 and 18.

Ferran said she’s planning another meal drop in January, likely with several new restaurants.

To order, visit eatigc.com.

Bryan Zeto, owner and chef of the Shawarma Guys food truck, prepares a chicken and a beef shawarma pita in South Park on Saturday, January 4, 2020 in San Diego, California.

(Hayne Palmour IV/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Yelp seeking diners’ nominations for Top 100 list

In January, Bryan Zeto’s Shawarma Guys food truck in South Park was named the No. 1 restaurant on Yelp’s 2020 list of the top 100 places to eat in the U.S. But in the 11 months since, the national restaurant industry has been devastated by the pandemic.

In the first four weeks of the pandemic, Zeto said his business fell by at least 50 percent. And Yelp itself has spent the year working to identify and delete unfair restaurant reviews relating to mask requirements and poor service by third-party delivery apps.

So instead of relying solely on its own database of consumer reviews, the ratings app is reaching out directly to diners this month for their picks for the 2021 Yelp Top 100 list. Yelp users are invited to nominate their favorite restaurants, food trucks and other eateries at yelptop100.com through Sunday. The list will be revealed in early 2021.

Rubio’s offering prize giveaway

Rubio’s restaurants are hosting a holiday “instant win” card giveaway event this month.

With any purchase, customers will receive a scratch-off card with prizes ranging from a free taco or dessert to coupons ranging in value from $2 off an entree to a buy-one-get-one-free deal. The odds of winning the taco or dessert are 1 in 3, compared to 1 in 36 for the BOGO offer. Coupons must be redeemed by Dec. 31.

Customers can also get a scratch-off card with no purchase necessary by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope by Dec. 22 to Rubio’s Holiday Scratch Off Instant Win Game Piece Request at 360 W. 132nd St., Los Angeles, CA 90061. For details, visit rubios.com.

Pop Pie, Stella Jean’s introduce seasonal items

Pop Pie Co. and Stella Jean’s, the side-by-side takeout-friendly food shops at 4404 Park Blvd. in University Heights, have introduced several new seasonal holiday items this month.

At Pop Pie, which sells fresh-baked single-serving sweet and savory pies, chef/owner Gan Suebsarakham is now selling a vegan-friendly apple cranberry with ginger crumble pie as well as a new red chili pork tamale pie. Visit poppieco.com.

At Stella Jean’s, a gourmet small-batch ice cream shop, scoops and pints of several new holiday flavors are available, including peppermint and dark chocolate candy cane bark, sweet ginger, spumoni and chai sweet potato. Visit stellajeans.com.

Cutwater Spirits has recently released Añejo, its third bottled tequila product since October 2019.

(Courtesy photo)

Cutwater Spirits releases third tequila

San Diego’s Cutwater Spirits distillery has released its first Añejo Tequila, the third aged tequila product it has unveiled since last fall.

Cutwater’s tequilas are produced in Jalisco, Mexico, by the Orendain family, who have been making tequilas for nearly 100 years. What makes the Cutwater tequilas unique is that they are aged in Cutwater whiskey barrels for more than a year before being bottled and shipped to San Diego. The first agave spirits produced under the partnership was Cutwater Tequila Blanco in October 2019, followed by Cutwater Tequila Reposado in January 2020.

The new Añejo Tequila is $49.99 a bottle. For locations, visit cutwaterspirits.com.

Pam Kragen writes about San Diego’s restaurant community for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com.

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The Dish: New startup In Good Company delivering frozen family meals from local restaurants - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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