Sound too good to be true? It’s not—it’s CHEFERY, a company that brings high-end, organic, and fresh meals to homes in the greater Las Vegas Valley and select neighborhoods in Henderson.
The idea for CHEFERY hatched in early 2015, after Skenandore had relocated back to Las Vegas for the second time. He was making dinner for friends at their house, he recalls, and “they were loving the food, saying, ‘I wish we could afford to hire you as a personal chef so we could enjoy your meals all the time.’”
One of the dinner guests worked in the tech industry; he and Skenandore brainstormed about how they might develop a way to make that fantasy a reality. In addition to Skenandore, eight partners eventually signed on, including chef Ryan Alday, who works on menu development, and executive chef, Suzan Alday, who cooks. They held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in August and CHEFERY has been cookin’ ever since.
On the company’s website, diners can choose from menu items like Z Pasta (noodles made from shaved green zucchini and yellow squash, served with goat cheese, pine nuts, red pepper sauce, and house-made Italian sausage) or Grilled Mary’s All Natural Chicken Breast (served with spinach and pecorino romano cheese, castelvetrano olives, Tuscan-style farro, and fresh citrus). The diner then selects a delivery date and receives a confirmation email with a two-hour window for delivery. Meals are delivered at refrigerator temperature and need only be heated in the microwave or oven for about five minutes as a finishing touch.
Menus change monthly to “roll with the seasons,” Skenandore says. The selections are health-conscious; gluten-free and vegan meals are also available. “We’re really healthy that way. We build a lot of flavor by using fresh herbs and spices.”
Locally-sourced and regional ingredients are used wherever possible. The company uses minimal, microwave-safe packaging that is recyclable and biodegradable.
Because CHEFERY is based in Las Vegas, the carbon footprint is smaller than when locals order from similar services, like Blue Apron, which delivers freeze-dried meal ingredients nationwide. “It’s a nice clean option,” Skenandore says, “both for you to eat and for the environment.”
