An Upper West Side mom and her brother recently launched an innovative platform to connect busy families with home chefs for meal prep. Mamieli debuted in the spring and has since grown tremendously, all through word of mouth.
“By connecting households and neighborhood home cooks, we’re fostering a new kind of community in New York around food and family,” says co-founder Genevieve Mena, who started the business with her brother, John O’Mara. “Our motivation is to help busy families sit together to enjoy home-cooked meals that are actually cooked at home, not delivered in a plastic box.”
Genevieve Mena and John O’Mara launched Mamieli in the spring.
While having a private chef might seem like an out-of-reach luxury, Mamieli makes the home chef experience accessible to a wide range of families by enabling each chef to set their own pricing and by including chefs that range from talented self-taught cooks to professionally-trained chefs. Rates start at about $8 per serving plus the cost of groceries.
Every kind of cuisine and dietary restriction you can think of is covered, and while there aren’t any long-term contracts, many clients use Mamieli on a weekly basis. Chefs are also available for special occasion assistance like dinner parties and birthdays.
Mamieli chefs offer a wide range of cuisines and can cater to all dietary restrictions.
All Mamieli chefs are rigorously vetted, food safety certified, and must pass an in-person cooking trial simulating an end-to-end client experience. They then complete a three-month trial to ensure they meet the platform’s high standards, guaranteeing both quality and safety.
Once you’ve picked a chef, you can select your meals. You have the flexibility to choose directly from the chefs’ menus or you can give them customized instructions. If you have dietary restrictions, allergies, or specific preferences, chefs can tailor your menu to suit your needs.
After your chef and meal choices are set, it’s time for the magic to happen! Your chef comes to your home at an agreed time with groceries in hand. They then whip up your chosen meals and stock your fridge with labeled meals for you to enjoy, using your own food storage containers. That beats soggy, expensive takeout any day of the week.
Fresh, home-cooked meals (at affordable price points) are just a couple clicks away.
Like many great entrepreneurial pursuits, Mamieli emerged out of necessity. When Genevieve’s daughter was born, she struggled to carve out time to prepare non-repetitive daily dinners and frequently resorted to expensive DoorDash orders. This is when it dawned on her that there must be an abundance of untapped culinary talent in her neighborhood that would be interested in earning extra income helping out local families. Mamieli was incubated in an Excel spreadsheet and is now a thriving online marketplace.
“Mamieli is the single best thing that happened to me during my postpartum journey,” wrote one relieved customer. “Finding Robin to prepare meals for our family has been the biggest blessing. She is so talented, caring, and creative as a cook. When Robin first came to our house, I was a new mom trying to do it all and burning myself out. Robin figured out my kitchen within minutes and in 2 hours she had the biggest spread of fresh food on my dining table…Since then we are hooked and can’t wait for the next time she will cook amazing dishes for us.”
Example weekly meal prep spread by Mamieli Chef Robin
“Mamieli’s service has been a game-changer for us, making our lives so much easier!” wrote another happy client. “With delicious meals that cater to both picky toddlers and discerning parents, mealtime has become a breeze. We’re grateful for the talent and dedication of our chef, which have brought convenience and joy into our home week to week.”
Mamieli’s chefs are also pretty ecstatic about what the platform has done for them.
“The platform has not only helped me fill my schedule with weekly bookings, but it also allows me to connect with diverse clients in our community, from busy moms and families to hard-working professionals looking for healthy, tailored meals cooked at home,” says Chef Cintia. “I also truly appreciate that the founders are genuinely invested in our success as chefs, incorporating our input at every step while also understanding firsthand the unique challenges busy families face. They are building a win-win solution that I am thrilled to be a part of.”
“Mamieli is fundamentally different from meal prep services out there: our bottoms-up approach enables local home chefs to set their pricing, availability, and meal repertoire, which makes the home chef experience accessible to a much wider set of families with different budgets and preferences, while at the same time celebrating the home chefs’ diverse cuisines, cultures, and cooking styles.”
Head to the Mamieli website to browse chefs, menus, and pricing. We should warn you–try a Mamieli chef once, and you won’t want to go back!
