New 'ghost kitchen' initiatives can help save chefs amid COVID-19

Five restaurateurs join forces in order to overcome coronavirus difficulties

By JONATHAN GILAD

DECEMBER 24, 2020 14:13

Kukuritza (photo credit: Courtesy) — Kukuritza

(photo credit: Courtesy)

The growing trend of deliveries, which has only gotten stronger during the corona era, gave birth to new ideas both here and abroad. One of them is called “ghost kitchens,” or “cloud kitchens,” meaning restaurants that exist only online. The new culinary concept, which helps chefs and cooks survive while their restaurants are closed, may just be what will save them from going bankrupt.

Led by two chefs and culinary advisers and owners of FeinCook, Yair Feinberg and Eli Hoffner, the new initiative – “Winds of Passion” – combines menus from five restaurants, each with very different cuisines, but somehow managed to produce a tight and smart menu that uses similar ingredients to serve food that perfectly suits deliveries, yet embodies the ideas behind each restaurant.

Feinberg explained, “The unique concept was constructed in order to survive these challenging times. We chose dishes and packaging that will allow the food to reach the customers in its prime. This concept is very efficient in terms of space, manpower and ingredients, thus allowing us to offer chef cuisine at lower cost.”

There are two such concepts. The first, called “Jamila Jamil,” includes many meals in sandwiches, extraordinary buns filled with beef, chicken, fish and even a vegan option. The second concept menu, called “Kukuritza,” includes everything chicken, from chicken salad, grilled chicken, wings, Asian chicken and even schnitzel. Soon, they promise, there will also be a few desserts and salads. Prices of sandwiches are NIS 49-NIS 52. Salads, which are complete meals, go for NIS 38, and there are many more options.

The food is prepared in a small, well-equipped kitchen in Haifa and deliveries are available in the area.

The Kukuritza dishes we sampled were like home-cooked food made better. We tried the grilled chicken breast with Asian glaze (NIS 55), which was very good and didn’t dry out even after a long delivery ride. There is an option for grilled chicken for two, which sounds like a great solution for those times when you really can’t be bothered to cook. We also tried the fried wings. We love wings, and these were delicious and well-seasoned. Another chicken dish we tried was the chicken burger, which was also very satisfactory. There was too much food for us to eat, so the chicken salad went to a neighbor. That was a chicken breast salad with cashew and Asian dressing and was reportedly a perfect lunch.

We loved the vegan options on the menu, including a salad of bulgur, black lentil, parsley, mint, celery, edamame, tomato, roasted sweet potato cubes, olive oil and lemon juices with green tahini on the side.

Side dishes include rice, roasted potatoes and ptitim (Israeli couscous). Perfect for a family dinner.

More restaurants are scheduled to join the project soon.

Food can be ordered online at ghost-kitchen.co.il.