What’s for dinner? It’s the question we ask ourselves every night, but often we don’t have a satisfying answer. As schedules get hectic and other responsibilities pile up, planning and preparing dinner becomes a burden. What’s lost? The opportunity to nourish our bodies and relationships around the dinner table.
The sacrifice felt too big for Buckhead resident and Harvard Business School graduate Erica Tuggle, so she created Cookonnect. Cookonnect is a meal solutions company pioneering a new, more flexible personal chef model, where users can purchase meal preparation services from local chefs online. The company provides all of the benefits of a personal chef, including a fresh meal prepared right in your home, with unmatched simplicity and flexibility, from booking the service to enjoying the meals.
Cookonnect launched in 2022, inspired by the founder's own experience as a working mother with two young children. As her career at The Coca-Cola Company advanced, it became more difficult for her to manage work, family, and home. Many of the women around her urged her to outsource home tasks, but meal preparation proved to be the most difficult item to solve for without sacrificing quality and health.
Erica wanted to create a convenient and flexible meal solution, committed to helping its customers eat healthier. As a result, Cookonnect maintains a menu that changes monthly and focuses on fresh ingredients, from scratch cooking, and meals that meet various dietary requirements like gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan meals.
Booking a chef is as simple as selecting meals from a variety of delicious and nutritious menu items, sharing any necessary customizations, and setting the date, all via the user-friendly Cookonnect online booking system. Your Cookonnect chef then takes care of the rest, ensuring a seamless and delightful experience from start to finish.
Cookonnect chefs are recruited from restaurants and professional kitchens around Atlanta. Each undergoes a thorough review process, including a background check, interviews, reference checks, food safety certificate verification, and a tasting session. Many bring over 20 years of experience in the culinary industry, and all of them share a desire to bring people together over food.
This new model is helping BuckHaven families enjoy the convenience of a personal chef without an ongoing commitment that can be challenging amidst work, family, and travel. It’s like having a fractional personal chef, giving customers the flexibility they desire to call on a personal chef for everyday meals or special occasions as they need them.
“We have considerable ambitions,” Erica shared. “Our goal is to grow in Atlanta and expand nationally, to become a platform where anyone with culinary talent can monetize that talent. This is how we strengthen our families and create healthier eating habits. It starts at your dinner table, and we’re here to make dinner easier for everyone.”
Booking a chef is as simple as selecting meals from a variety of delicious and nutritious menu items, sharing any necessary customizations, and setting the date, all via the user-friendly Cookonnect online booking system.