DinnerSmith got great press!!!

February 16, 2008

Meal-prep firm caters to special diets
by Johanna Ginsberg
Staff Writer

NJ Jewish News


Sisters Sharon Grey and Fran Valle, together with Mary Smith, opened Dinnersmith, a “meal prep” outlet that’s happy to accommodate customers who follow vegetarian and other special diets, in May.

This hot spot on Maplewood’s Springfield Avenue,
located just across the way from the soon-to-be-closed
Rabbi L. Sky Bookstore, is the talk of the virtual town
on Maplewood Online.

It’s part of the growing number of “meal prep”
establishments around the country and in New Jersey,
where customers prepare their own meals from fresh
ingredients under the guidance of the proprietors.
(Easymealprep.com lists 1,411 meal preparation
companies nationally, including 18 in the Garden State.)



With no rabbinic certification, it’s not kosher. But
Dinnersmith accommodates those who follow vegetarian
and other diets and is developing a customer base among
those who keep a lenient form of kashrut. Two of the
owners — Sharon Grey and Fran Valle — are sisters who
grew up in a strictly kosher home on Long Island; they
understand the ins and outs of kashrut, they said, and
will go the distance for this clientele. And
Dinnersmith is becoming a popular stop for Reform
synagogue gatherings: Events were planned in February
for Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange and
Temple Sha’arey Shalom in Springfield.

(Grey belongs to Sha’arey Shalom; Valle was until
recently a member of Congregation Beth El in South
Orange. Their partner Mary Smith is a member of an
Episcopal church in South Orange.)



For the newbies, here’s how Dinnersmith works. You drop
in, wash your hands, grab a never-before-used
container, follow some simple instructions, and prepare
your entree. Consider pecan-crusted tilapia, vegetarian
chili, or southwest strata, a sort of Mexican
casserole. Ingredients are pre-chopped and sit in small
plastic containers complete with measuring spoons. One
of the owners stands by your side and talks you through
the recipe — or chats with you about the day’s news. It
takes about 15 minutes to prepare each entree.

It’s fun, it’s fast, and when you’re done, you have a
delicious entree with no grocery shopping, no unused
ingredients to worry about, no chopping, and no mess in
your kitchen to clean up. All you have to do is take it
home and cook it according to the directions (or pop it
in the fridge or freezer for later use).

Nothing is cooked; nothing is premixed. You control
every ingredient that goes into the dish. The owners
cover the counters in plastic if requested. They show
you the labels and substitute ingredients if you ask.
There are always vegetarian entrees and fish entrees on
the menu. And every entree comes with two sides, a
vegetable and a starch — also uncooked. Everything goes
into a foil container or plastic bag that has not been
used before. The owners said they are considering
purchasing separate knives.



Plastic containers hold the already-chopped
ingredients, and customers use plastic measuring cups.
Customers do any mixing in large stainless steel bowls
that may have been used for other ingredients.
(However, all containers and utensils go through the
180-degree dishwasher cycle between recipes.)

Recipes change monthly; drop-ins are welcome, but
reserve in advance to choose your entrees. The price is
$25 per entree ($20 for more than 12 meals); each feeds
four-six people.



Dinnersmith is located at 1908 Springfield Ave. in
Maplewood. Contact the establishment at 973-763-2333 or
via email.
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This article was written by a reporter for The NJ Jewish News who did not know anything about us before the interview. She came back after the interview and made a meal for her family. When she was finished, her face lit up and she completely understood DinnerSmith. We did not pay for this article. We just did what we do every day. Take care of customers as best as we can. Finding and preparing the best quality food we can find. Creating in the kitchen a menu we love to share. Sharing what we know about food and families,

What's new

Sharon tried a Chicken Marcella the other night. Actually she tried it on me. Sometimes one of us makes a dish for the other. If we can make it based on the bags and directions and random family members will eat it, we put it on the menu. She used chicken piyard, breast meat pounded flat in a delicious sauce with mushrooms and onions. I had a bunch of extras diners so I threw in some extra boneless thigh meat and served it over some nice fat linguine. I stuffed myself. The DinnerSmith crowd is in for a treat this March: this is so good. We are working on the March menu. Looking for new salmon dishes.... Bringing back Chicken and dumplings.

We are also offering freshly made Havard Beets as a side dish. We boiled these beets and sweetened them. The results for those who love these beets is extra nice, so tart and full of flavor. There are available for a very limited time.

Mary

Let it snow.....

When the snow comes, I huddle in my house and cook. and eat. Tonight I am making Rotelle with a simple red sauce and sausage meatballs. The meatballs are a freezer staple for me, always a couple pounds ready to be dinner.

Since dinner is done, I will tell you about my newest passion and obsession, the panetone from Santini's Bakery in Orange. Every morning sliced and toasted with butter. This is not like the stuff in the box. This is the freshest sweet bread laced with citron and other fruit. Jeanie, who spends seven days a week in the bakery, has introduced me to so many fresh new breads. This is an old-fashioned Italian bakery where they bake every day: for me, a reminder of my childhood in Boston's North End. The boules and chiabattes and all kinds of sweet and savory rolls. They use whole wheat and white, and rosemary and sage and fruit. There are sweets from many cultures representing the cultures of the bakers.

I have been a frequent visitor dragging all kinds of friends and family with me. This is not so far from us: follow Valley Street thru Maplewood and South Orange til it turns to Scotland Road. Continue on Scotland to White Castle. Turn just before WC onto Central Ave. In two blocks follow the road around to the left. Stay straight for two blocks: you will pass the closed Orange Hospital. The bakery is on the right, a green storefront with tons of bread in the window.

The bread is so good and inexpensive. I avoid carbs and do not eat bread very much. I love this stuff, everything is fragrant, and the texture is wonderful. I have been getting all kinds of sandwich breads and rolls for the lunches I make for my family every day. The filling I make are really complimented by these great breads. Today was tuna salad on huge slices of whole wheat. Yesterday was Chicken salad on chiabatta.

They also make a little roll called a slider. They are used to make little slider sandwiches. The trend in the city is to serve three little sandwiches together as an entree. We are going to use them for our BBQ pork. What a great little party sandwich! Look for us at a certain school benefit in the spring...three hundred sandwiches comin' up.

Vegatarian.......

We do have requests for soy protien or non meat protein meals. One strong request recently caused us to look into TVP, textured soy protein. I bought some of the stuff and reconstituted it. It actually absorbs the water and swells right before your eyes. It was creepy. Then we had some crumbly stuff that looked like cooked ground meat, only it was beige, and tasted harmless. Could it be added to our DinnerSmith meals and be a decent substitute for beef? the first test was Spagetti Pie. Our version is a base of cheesy spagetti with a layer of meat sauce over the top. Peperoni and cheese finish the dish. I made a batch of the Pies. Sharon, Bev and I ate one for dinner. Verdict...it is fine, taste is good , it is definitely not ground beef but it has a nice texture. So we will be offering this TVP as a vegetarian substitute in dishes which use ground beef. The meatloaf will not be on that list which includes Sloppy Joes, Chili and Spagetti Pie.

Midwinter blues?

This is the time of year that gets people down. The holidays are over, resolutions are either broken or harder to keep, the weather is cold and clammy, and there is no Holiday on the horizon, and it jsut feels dark all the time.

I always liked this time of year, even though I am not a skier. I love to putter around my kitchen looking for ingredients that have been forgotten or need to be used and come up with hot meals that make people smile. Recently I made a Beef Stroganoff. Whoa, delicious. Instead of red wine, I discovered that in Russia they use cognac in their beef. It was outrageous. I am now testing it for our Dinnersmith kitchen.

We are also testing Hoisin pork and some great seafood chowders. Having the time, this time of year, to cook up a storm is warming and brings everyone to the table. Yesterday I made Chicken Kiev for my family. It is like a big chicken nugget rolled around our herb butter. I can't imagine that they wont love it.