Meal Delivery Platform Shef Expands To Atlanta Area; Offers Authentic Dishes

BUCKHEAD — Shef, an online marketplace that enables local cooks to earn a meaningful income selling homemade food in their communities expanded its business to Atlanta earlier this year.

As of February, customers in Atlanta now have access to authentic specialties from across a wide variety of cuisines – all made by members of their community and delivered right to their doorsteps, according to the company.

No membership or subscription is required. Shef partners with third-party delivery services to bring the meals directly to customers.

“The wide range of global cuisines offered by cooks on Shef in Atlanta reflects the incredible diversity of the local community," said Shef co-founder Joey Grassia in a statement. "We couldn't be more excited to introduce the talent of these local cooks to the region and make it easier for people to get a healthy and affordable homemade meal on the table.

Atlanta's cohort of shefs represents a wide variety of cultures, including hard-to-find cuisines like Nepalese, Pakistani, and Caribbean, according to the company. Others include American, southern dishes, Caribbean and African. A Ukrainian shef also joined the platform recently.

More than 96 countries are currently represented on Shef across the country; all cuisines and cultural specialties are welcome, they said.

The chefs are local to the Atlanta area and utilize commercial kitchen facilities, according to the company.

Sample Meal Descriptions:

Panang Curry Beef - Panang Curry is a type of red Thai curry that is thick, salty, and sweet, with a zesty makrut lime flavor. This dish is served with boneless beef and enjoyed best with an order of Jasmine Rice!

Laab Chicken - Laab, also known as Larb and Laap, is a northeastern food. The flavor of the Thai larb is citrusy, salty, and spicy. Rich in flavor, this dish lets the mint and spice shine through. Best enjoyed with an order of Jasmine Rice!

Tom Kha Kai - Tom Kha Kai, also known as Tom Kha Gai or Thai Coconut Soup, is a spicy and sour hot soup that features coconut milk and chicken in Thai cuisine. This is a creamy and rich recipe that was handed down by my mother and has always been a family staple!

Thai Green Curry Beef - Green curry is one of the most popular Thai curries in the world. A rich coconut milk-based curry, part of its crowd-pleasing nature is its balance: it’s spicy, but not too spicy; it’s sweet, but not too sweet. This dish is served with boneless beef and best enjoyed with an order of jasmine rice!

Shef said that it partners with commercial kitchens in some places and makes that space available to people who want it. All cooks on Shef must be food safety certified and commit to following safe food handling practices. The company said it believes that the law should be expanded to enable Georgia residents to cook and sell a broader variety of foods from home.

“Shef is actively supporting efforts like SB 578 - sponsored by State Senator Walker this year - to create more opportunity for Georgia home cooks to safely build their own small businesses and share their passion,” Shef told Patch in an email.

The service has skyrocketed in the past year with over 1.6 million meals served across the U.S. and more than 30,000 applicants to sell food on the platform, according to a news release.

Diversity is central to Shef's mission with more than 85 percent of cooks on Shef being people of color, the company said. Shef currently operates in several markets across the country, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Houston, Austin, Boston, and Washington, D.C, and includes Padma Lakshmi, Tiffany Haddish, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, and chef Aarón Sánchez among its investors.