A 'Ray' of light from California

I had heard rumors about our Los Angeles Kitchen. About the amazing dedication of Chef Ray and the love and attention that is part and parcel of every dish prepared. These were no rumors and nothing could have proved it to me more than spending a day in the kitchen with the man himself.

Walking into the LA kitchen, is like stepping into a wonderland. Gleaming counters and floors. Kitchen staff merrily going about their work with seamless efficiency and obvious devotion. Food bursting with color, vibrance and of course taste! (How could I resist?) I almost expected birds to start chirping and unicorns to prance by. Every ruby red strawberry, every piece of juicy, tender chicken and every slice of moist, golden pineapple cake is subject to Chef Ray’s constant quality control. If it makes into the bag, then you can be sure it will have you weak at the knees once you taste it.

Serving an average of 700 people a day, our LA based operation runs like a well-oiled machine. Every employee knows their place, position and procedure and the kitchen is a calm and peaceful place to be. Being that California is famous for their fresh fruit and vegetables, it is no wonder that our clients enjoy the summer fruit salad breakfast option I watched being prepared this morning. The fruit looked so good if I hadn’t tasted it myself I wouldn’t have known it was real. (So I was FORCED to taste it y’know! To make SURE it was real.)
Chef Ray’s passion is electric and you cannot help but get excited about good food, excellent customer service and the Fresh Diet concept when speaking to him. When it comes to his clients, there is nothing Chef Ray and his team wont do to keep them satisfied. Just today I was told that a minor mistake had been made with one of our regular LA clients. Within minutes of hearing about it, Chef Ray picked up the phone and made a call to this particular customer to see what he could do to make it up to her. He asked her what her favorite dessert was and when she said “anything with ‘chips’ in it” he not only gave her a dessert with chips in it but he MADE a whole new cheesecake with every type of ‘chip’ you could find. Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, caramel chips, you name it – it was in there! Now THAT’S customer service wouldn’t you say?

Since starting with 11 clients in 2008, the LA operation has grown remarkably and that is due to the fierce dedication, amazing leadership and obvious talent of our California team. Their clients are their number one priority and this attitude is circulated into into every meal, snack and interaction.

Well done LA! You do us all proud!

THE DALLAS DISH

After I said goodbye to all the great people in our TFD Chicago kitchen, I headed to the airport to catch my Dallas flight. As someone who is a little afraid of flying, the experience of boarding a 50 seater plane left me a smidgen unsettled. And by a smidgen, I mean a quaking ball of nerves. But being that I just left the Dallas kitchen, I must have survived. So in ode to my miraculous survival and not to mention stunning bravery, I feel duty-bound to tell you all about my visit to Irving, Texas.

Dallas is definitely one of our smaller kitchens but it is also one of our newest. Beginning operation in August 2010, there are roughly 165 bags coming out of this kitchen every day.

As expected, I had a great time meeting all the employees of our Texas kitchen operation. Under Executive Chef George’s great leadership, are the wonderful staff members Nicole, Quentin, Jesus, Antera, Jon, Brandon, David, Jana and James.


Nicole was very kind to demonstrate how to fold a wrap the Fresh Diet way. I thought you guys might enjoy that being as I always find myself wondering why my own wraps never look as good as TFD’s. Brandon took me through the process of making the multigrain strawberry pancakes that some of you will be enjoying for tomorrows breakfast. He made it look so easy but I wasn’t fooled!

First he puts together the secret mix of ingredients

Then he gets them golden brown and extra fluffy the way only an expert can……

Once they’ve been cooked to perfection, they are cooled and placed in the TFD containers.

To complete the meal, honeydew,2 lean patties and a shot of syrup are added to the container. Voila – your delicious breakfast served up and ready to go!

The rest of the dishes being prepared in the kitchen today looked just as delectable. There was the ever popular granola (I saw a HUGE tub of the stuff I just KNOW some of you would give your eyeteeth for), succulent chicken breasts, tarragon infused salmon and cheddar wraps and of course I made it my business to find my oracle – the cheesecake keeper.

I know if I was a Dallas client, I would be thrilled with the high standards of culinary expertise, cleanliness and work ethic I found in the Kitchen today.

Next stop – LA! Stay tuned!

CHICAGO GIVES US THE OL’ RAZZLE DAZZLE

Last time I left off, I was excited for my visit to the Chicago kitchen. Had I known what was in store for me I would have been counting down the minutes.

Now I had been told that Chicago was a fabulous city, filled with fabulous people but nothing could prepare me for the warmth and hospitality that I was greeted with from the Chicago Fresh Diet staff. In true Chicago style, there was a surprise waiting for me in the form of our newest culinary member who (after some coaxing) agreed to perform the Fresh Diet rap anthem he put together for your enjoyment.

Every person in that kitchen is excited to be there and it shows! Their meticulous attention to detail and the great atmosphere that fills the kitchen is the perfect complement to the dishes prepared there.

A clear testament to the outstanding service offered, our Chicago operation has all but doubled in size since opening. Now filling close to 300 bags every day. Before I even had the opportunity to give over our lone bit of criticism from valued Chicago client Amy Bonanata Sous Chef John Cardinal already knew exactly what had been said and who had said it. Proving to me yet again, that our culinary teams do indeed follow our social media and take careful note of every comment, complaint and praise that is made by our online community.

To all the Chicago clients, you should know what a fabulous team it is that makes up your Kitchen. Executive Chef Alonso, Sous Chef John and the rest of the team Mike, George, Sammy, David, Jeremy, Gabriella, Jesus, Raphael, Ashley, Maxine, Rigo and Saul are working very hard to ensure the food they send to you is of the highest quality and standard.

And to those of you that ordered the chocolate cupcakes – You can thank Sammy for rescuing them all from disappearing into my carry on ;)

New York! New York!

What a fabulous day I had today! Let me go back to the beginning and fill you guys in.

After a very pleasant Sunday afternoon flight, I arrived in the great city of New York. Being from South Africa, I found it quite thrilling to catch my very own New York cab! I guess you have to enjoy even the smallest things in life right?

This morning, I was eager to get to the New York kitchen and see how our biggest production kitchen pulls it all together on an average Monday!

When I first arrived, I was greeted by the friendly faces of our NY kitchen staff, who had been hard at work since 4am! I’m not sure about you, but I don’t know how friendly my face would be if I had been awake since 4am! Regardless, they were great! There is an unmistakable energy in the NY kitchen and the cooks, chefs and packers are excited to be preparing the food going into the homes of our NY clients.

I managed to track down the most important person (the cheesecake maker of course) within minutes of being there. I think he is almost as excited about our famous cheesecake as we are ☺ I hope those of you that ordered it, enjoy your apricot cheesecake tomorrow – I enjoyed the privilege of watching it being made.

I was also lucky to be able to sit down with Executive Culinary officer Chef Yos, Executive Chef Wayne and Supervisor Sergio who you heard from in the video posted earlier. They listened attentively to all the feedback collected from your posts and assured me that they will work hard to address the concerns raised and were also grateful for the positive feedback. So all in all, a success I would say!

It was a great honor to meet all the kind staff in our New York operation. I only wish I could have taken you all with me into the kitchens to meet them yourselves. Alexandra, Edison, Nesto and all the other wonderful people I met today, are hard at work -preparing, improving and perfecting the dishes we send to our NY clients.

A few hours later and a few friends richer, I found myself on THE most turbulent flight headed to Chicago. By the time we touched down I had a new-found appreciation for the tarmac! Now I’m sitting in lovely Addison writing to you!

Tomorrow we head off to the Chicago kitchen – are you as excited as I am?

All good beginnings...

It’s Sunday July 24th 2011. In a few hours I leave on a 4-day whirlwind tour. New York, Chicago, Dallas and LA. I’m calling it my Kamikaze Kitchen Tour 2011.

The purpose of my tour is to visit four of our kitchens, meet the chefs and sample the cheesecakes. Ok, the last part may not be a ‘specified’ objective but I thought I would throw it in for good measure.

I thought it would be great to take you guys along for some company. While I’m there I’ll be tweeting – so if you’re not following us on Twitter @Freshdiet, you’ll want to do that – uploading pictures to facebook and documenting my adventures here.

If you have anything specific you would like me to ask the chefs while I am there, or something in particular you’ d like to see, let me know here in the comments.

But for now, let me get all my millions of bags together (why is it can never pack light?) and get ready to go.

Catch up with you soon!

R