Rescuing restaurants
EXPERT: UCOOK SUPPORTS AILING EATERIES WITH COOK-ALONG CAMPAIGN
Self-cook drive brings quintessential flavours into people’s homes.
Even though restaurants are permitted to be fully operational, the food and hospitality industry has taken a serious knock, resulting in numerous restaurants closing down and a number employees losing their jobs.
An initiative aimed at rescuing the restaurant trade was launched today amidst news of more and more outlets taking immense strain.
Ucook for Restaurants is a campaign that will see the brand teaming up with restaurants and chefs to bring their quintessential flavours into people’s homes.
Each week, Ucook will offer a specific restaurant’s featured dish and with each dish ordered, a portion of the revenue will go directly to the restaurant.
“It’s undeniable that among all the chaos caused by Covid-19 and lockdown, hospitality, and particularly restaurants has been one of the commercial sectors hardest hit,” said Ucook chief executive David Torr.
“Sadly, there’s no end in sight to this extended halt on trading and slowly more and more outlets will cease to exist by the time we reach lockdown Level 1.”
As a special feature, live cookalong sessions will be hosted on multiple channels each week, with the featured chef, to help those who ordered the meal to join in and cook the dish with live expert guidance.
“Viewers will be able to ask questions, pick up tips and tricks and really experience the personality of the chef while preparing their meal,” said Torr.
“We might not be able to get to our favourite restaurants at this time, so we’re bringing them to you at home.”
Torr said that Ucook would team up with a series of restaurants and their owners to help support the industry that has supported the self-cook company since inception.
The first restaurant to be featured is Karen Dudley’s The
Kitchen which, prior to lockdown, was a bustling eatery in the heart of Woodstock. Some of Dudley’s signature dishes include “Love Sandwiches” served on artisanal rolls with delectable pesto’s, beautifully presented salads with incredible ingredients like lime, sesame, goats cheese and coriander. This offers the opportunity to bring some of the most respected chef’s directly into consumers homes, an added benefit that comes with ordering a box. Following The Kitchen will be favourites including Franck Dangereux’s The Food Barn and Reuben Riffel.
Torr said that they’ve also built in an instant donation mechanism that will be found on social media channels, so those not ordering can still support restaurateurs.
Tune into the cook-along sessions on the following dates, with more to follow in August:
The Kitchen’s chef Karen Dudley – today
The Foodbarn’s chef Franck Dangereux – 7 July
Jerusalem’s chef Reuben Riffel
– 14 July
Il Leone’s Daniel Toledo – 21 July The Kitchen’s recipe has been live for ordering on ucook.co.za from 17 June. Delivery of the meals started yesterday and the live cook-along will take place today. For more details visit ucook.co.za.
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