Gratefulness week, Day #3! I’m still feeling it, people.
I get a lot of random emails via this blog, some more random than others. (No, I am not interested in advertising your online casino.) But every so often, the right pitch arrives on the right day.
Here is the situation. Every so often, I work from home. And working from home is weird for me from a food standpoint. What do I do? Do I cook something? What if the phone rings? Do I go out for lunch? What if someone wants to talk to me on Lync (instant messenger). For a while, I was really into Waitrose and Marks & Spencer’s meals, but I’ve been thinking a lot about preservatives and fillers and sodium lately so I’m trying not to do that. Then I went on an Itsu and Pret binge — Itsu has nice discounts in the evenings — but that got a little monotonous.
So timing-wise, Bonapeti got me at the perfect moment. I was debating the perfect “working from home” lunch when their email dropped into my box. The e-mail was short and sweet, which I appreciated. And it started with a bang…
I’d like to get a delicious lunch/dinner delivered to you next week. We’re really keen for you to try the new Bonapeti with our compliments.
Thank you, knowledgeable PR, for knowing how to write a pitch and getting my attention from the get-go. You got me! I responded immediately!
And while I was working from home the other day, the Bonapeti box arrived.
And I opened it immediately…because I was HUNGRY. I was also very fascinated by the recyclable, biodegradable sheep’s wool everything was packed in.
After perusing the contents of the box, I, uh, promptly proceeded to eat the spiced poach pear cake first. Forget the rest of the box. I wanted dessert. And it was really good. I wasn’t a huge fan of the coconut yogurt — too tart for me in that yogurt-like way — but the cake was great.
Hunger abated, I waited. (Rhyming intended.)
And waited.
And waited some more, the contents of the box calling to me, softly, from the refrigerator.
And then finally, when it was time for dinner, I helped myself to the “vine ripened tomatoes stuffed with butterbeans and feta, served with mixed quinoa and roasted cauliflower.” I don’t even like tomatoes, but apparently, if you stuff them with butterbeans and feta, I am totally okay with tomatoes! Because these were really good, and as a dinner option, the dish was much better than the Waitrose mushroom risottos and Itsu Omega 3 Salmon Supremes I’ve been surviving on lately. I wasn’t expecting the chili in the Bonapeti dish — I should have read the menu card — so I had a bit of a coughing fit, but otherwise, I was very pleased with my healthy, veggie lunch.
Fast forward to the next morning. Breakfast. What to do? I have always been an unorthodox breakfast eater. I am not a huge fan of pancakes, waffles, cereals or eggs. (Who are these people that line up outside The Breakfast Club by the way???) I like the occasional omelette, but that’s about it. Lately, I’ve been eating jamon and grits for breakfast. Sometimes, with some random cheese. on the side. So I had the next meal — baked kohlrabi with a spiced tomato preserve and pumpkin seed gremolata — for breakfast. Although I realized afterwards that I forgot to use the tomato preserve and the pumpkin seed gremolata.
This was a nice and filling, dense and spicy breakfast dish. (I need to have baked kohlrabi for breakfast more often!) I felt virtuous too because there was a side of kale. Given the relatively large size of the portion, I ended up saving half of it for my dinner. (Hoping to remember to use the tomato preserve and the pumpkin seed gremolata.) My other plan is to polish off the salad that Bonapeti also included in the box, a salad of quinori, mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes and celery with sunflower seed pesto. (Given my celery allergy, I requested no celery.)
So all in all, I am enjoying my Bonapeti box. I am grateful for it! In sum, here are my pros and cons:
Pros
- Bonapeti were really good about my carrot and celery allergies. The salad has a specific sign on it that says “without celery,” which is reassuring.
- I like the handy cards for each dish in the box. The cards outline the ingredients and the nutritional information.
- I like that these are meat-free options. I’m trying to eat less meat and eat more plants in 2015. (According to the Bonapeti website, there are some meat and fish options.)
- For me, the price is about right. I work a lot and have rationalized £10 a meal for a healthy dinner that I don’t have to do much about when I get home. Call me lazy. I call me a single professional woman who works a lot and doesn’t want to eat Chinese food all the time.
Cons
- They don’t really deliver east of West London just yet. I am in Clerkenwell, so I am still fairly central but not in the delivery zone. They delivered to me anyhow, but you should check their delivery zones before you get too excited.
- The “enjoy by” dates were pretty quick. Mine said I should enjoy on the day of delivery or the next day. The problem with my life right now is that I don’t know where I will be at any given moment. I would be afraid to order a box on Monday to be delivered on Tuesday only to find out I wasn’t going to be home on Wednesday. Thank God for freezers, I guess.
- My microwave is much stronger than their instructions. For example, the Baked Kohlrabi required five minutes in the microwave. I knew that was going to be too long. I got away with two minutes. (My microwave goes up to 1000 watts.)
The Verdict: Would I order from Bonapeti again? If I knew that I was going to be in town during the week and working long hours, I definitely would. Unfortunately, my schedule is not that predictable so it’s hard to say when I will next order a box. It’s good to know the option exists though if I need it.
Here’s the Bonapeti spiel from their press release…
Bonapeti specializes in creating impressive restaurant quality, plant-based dishes, which are delivered super-fresh and chilled to your door. There are meat and fish options on the menu too. Look out for some of London’s brightest new chef names, guesting at Bonapeti. Nutritious mains are priced around £10 and desserts from £3.50, plus just £5 per delivery. They are freshly made on the day in the Bonapeti kitchen and require just a few minutes for you to heat up. Orders can be taken for same-day delivery at no extra cost.
Big Bad Disclosure: Bonapeti provided me with this gorgeous box of healthy food at no cost. My estimate based on the prices on the Bonapeti website is that the contents of the box would retail for roughly £30 quid plus delivery. I am grateful to Bonapeti for feeding me.
Bonapeti is offering 40% off first orders (plus free delivery) to anyone who uses the code BON201502.
