Cookin, a Home Cooking Food Delivery Concept, Has Launched in Dallas

You’re home. You’re hungry. You punched in this morning, and your eight hours felt more like 12. And as a reward for surviving, you're given an opportunity to participate in the sadistic daily bloodbath ritual known as rush-hour traffic in Dallas.

Still feel like cooking? Or dressing up and venturing back into that same traffic to sit at a restaurant so you can order something you’ve probably had more times than you’d care to admit?

Cookin, a concept built around getting fresh-to-order, home-cooked food to your door, wants to give you a new alternative to getting your kitchen dirty, dining out or ordering the same, tired, chain-dominated fare that Uber Eats and similar delivery apps mostly offer.

Recently, the Cookin team invited us to join their Dallas opening day launch tasting party. It was in an unassuming (albeit nice) home in the M streets of Dallas that we and others were treated to some of what one can find on the Cookin app — along with the opportunity to meet three chefs on Cookin’s Dallas roster.
Morley Ivers and Michael Baruch co-founded Cookin. Having launched the concept in their hometown of Toronto, they did their research and decided to make their next move to Dallas. Why Dallas? For Ivers and Baruch, it was the combination of a “superb pool of talented food creators” along with a rich and burgeoning market of “food-curious consumers.”

Here's how Cookin works: download the app and sift through different home kitchen culinary creators and their respective menus. After you place your order (assuming you’re within the delivery radius), you’ll receive an ETA when your order should arrive.

All Cookin home chefs had to pass vigorous screenings before earning their spot on the Cookin roster. From meeting with Cookin team culinary lead Erin Willis (who headed RM 12:20 Bistro) for guidance in curating their menus to kitchen inspections, everything’s fully legit and meets full health code regulations. All home cooks must also possess a Texas food handler’s certification.

More than 1,500 aspiring home cooks have applied, with only the best of the best surviving the cut to receive an opportunity to represent Cookin. In turn, these home chefs will get a chance to alter their lives by transforming their kitchens into businesses (and keeping upward of 85% of their revenue) as they showcase their culinary talents to a rich Dallas customer base. They have complete freedom over their schedules and pricing.
And these home chefs bring real-world restaurant experience. They’re not just wannabe cooks.

Take Juan Altamirano, for example, whose résumé includes cooking at fine-dining restaurants and experience as a private chef. Samarcus Palmer has 10 years of culinary experience and worked the kitchen of the Ritz Carlton in Denver.

At the launch tasting, Palmer’s tanjiro tacos — marinated pieces of chicken in a wonton shell topped with red peppers, red onions, cilantro and avocado cream cheese — were glorious. Altamirano’s oxtail beignets were among the most talked about samplings of the party. And the third chef we got a chance to meet and greet, Neydi Hernandez (who also has experience in restaurant kitchens), treated us to an assortment of incredible tamales.
These items just scratched the surface of what Cookin is offering right now app-wide. Some of the other items you can find: cheese steak banh mi, gumbo with smoked elk and venison sausage, 15-layer Bolognese lasagna, duck confit tacos, Argentinian beef empanadas and stuffed goat cheese peppers.

Cookin’ is in the early stages of this endeavor, but plans are to expand to Austin and Houston later this year and then to Tampa and other U.S. markets in 2024. And with every order a donation will be made to the North Dallas Food Bank.

We were handed gift bags on the way out. In our gift bag was a handwritten note from Ivers and Baruch. One of the lines on the card read, “... we’re excited for you to enjoy the best food this city has to offer from the most talented food creators.”

We are too.