If you're having people over for the Super Bowl and want to feed them good food -- but don't feel like doing the work -- Sol Kitchen may be able to help.
Owned by Steve Berry and chefs Kurtis Jantz and Chad Galiano, the company started offering food packages for NFL Sundays (dubbed Sol Sundays) in November. The chow is delivered to your home and is meant to feed six. Believe us, there is a lot for $150.
We talked to Berry about the company, how it works and what you can expect on the Super Bowl menu. You can still place an order for this Sunday but the cut-off is this Thursday, February 3 at 5:00 p.m.
New Times: What's unique about Sol Kitchen?
Steve Berry: We are taking classic comfort food from all over the world and enhancing it with advanced techniques to develop new and interesting flavors. Our company is driven by the creativity of our chef/owners Kurtis Jantz and Chad Galiano, who have over 40 years of combined experience. Right now we are focused on 'Sol Sundays' where we design catering packages with NFL themes and deliver them to our customers. We cover all the details from snacks, mains, and dessert to paper & plastic ware. All that's needed on their end is an oven to keep things warm and a trash bin for cleanup.
How did the idea for Sol Sundays come about?
If you know Chad and Kurtis, you know that they love to cook for family and friends, and that they are huge fans of the New Orleans Saints. We thought about the amount of money spent at a bar on typical bar food and drink (for me it's about $50 after tax/tip) and figured we could [deliver] a better culinary experience to the customer's home at a great price. And just like that, Sol Sundays were born. The package is includes a "playbook" that gives our Sol'jahs instructions on what gets heated, what gets dipped in what, and how to assemble each dish.
Sol'jahs?
It's what we call our customers, Twitter followers, and Facebook fans.
What has the response been like?
People really love being able to get involved with the creation of each item and they also love how easy it is to order and clean up. The response has been extremely positive and we are blessed to have such a great group of customers and followers on Twitter and Facebook.
What's on the menu for Super Bowl Sunday?
You mean Super Sol Sunday? Chef K and Chad put together a menu as a tribute to NFL Hall of Fame greats. 'Dandy Don's' Jerky'jax is a version of our homemade Cracka'jax and honoring the legendary Don Meredith, a quarterback and sports broadcaster who passed away less than a month ago. We've also got the Rickey Jackson roll, a roll with Saints shrimp remoulade and fried capers. Then there's Iron Mike Ditka's Pastrami Wings prepared in a pastrami brine that'll have you saying, "DAAAAA Bears!" by halftime. Of course we also give a shout out to our local favorite with Dan Marino Mahi Tacos made up with smoked mahi and a chili-lime slaw.
Your charred scallion dip is highly addictive ...
Yes! So much so that it's been dubbed 'crack dip.' We're all addicts too.
Do you cater other events?
We certainly do. Sol Sundays have an NFL theme right now but they are really all about getting family and friends together around a table of fun, flavor-focused food. The beauty of having two chefs as owners is that we can do just about anything for our customers from basic dinners to high-end fine dining. We recently brought some Sol to a bridal shower brunch and we also have a few private dinners in the works.
What's in store for Sol Kitchen after the Super Bowl?
After the Super Bowl we will continue to focus on Sol Sundays as well as catering private dinners and events. We are also hoping to launch a gourmet food truck this year, so stay tuned.
Green Bay or Pittsburgh?
We think it's going to be a great game as both teams have explosive offenses and dominant defenses. That being said, the Steelers have won a few Super Bowls over the last ten years, and we'd like to see Aaron Rodgers show Packers fans that there is plenty of life after Brett Favre -- and bring a Super Bowl trophy home to the frozen tundra.
