Maybe you planned to cook dinner, but your day got busy and by the time you left work, those grand dinner plans were out the window. That’s where Making Thyme Kitchen, 2409 Eastern Ave. SE, is ready to step in. The prepared meal company offers oven-ready entrees, side dishes, salads and sweets from its Alger Heights location. It also has a weekly meal delivery service.
“We help planners stock up for a couple of weeks, provide dinners for tonight because the day was crazy, cater healthy lunches for business meetings,” explained Ken Bryan, who co-owns Making Thyme Kitchen with his wife Karen. “Customers buy salads and sides to go with something they are preparing or stock up on our pasties for a rainy day. We also help small households of one or two people and seniors who have a hard time shopping and preparing meals.”
The business celebrates 15 years this year. It got its start at Fountain Street Church, then spent time on Cherry Street and at the Downtown Market before settling into its home in the Alger Heights neighborhood in fall 2018.
Making Thyme is similar to meal kit delivery services but without the prep work. All of the food is delivered ready to pop in the oven. “Customers come to us because we make everything from scratch, using fresh whole foods prepped in a kitchen they can see, and we are local.”
During the spring, Making Thyme saw an uptick in orders due to COVID-19, but Bryan thinks the trend for prepared meals will continue to increase in the future to meet families’ hectic lives.
“When we started, it was hard to get customers to understand the value of home delivery — that isn’t a hurdle anymore. While these trends (meal kit services) are positively impacting our business — with awareness — they are also providing us with customers who don’t want to do the prep work; don’t want all the packaging; and who don’t want what is essentially still ‘factory’ food.”
Bryan is hopeful that the business soon will be able to offer a wider selection of products and outdoor seating.
“We are really grateful for the support we have received since our move to Alger Heights, from our existing customer base and from the new neighborhood customers.”
He added, “To have achieved 15 years in business and to have owned and operated as a married couple feels like a real accomplishment.”
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