BURGUNDY BOX: NEW YEAR RESOLUTION PLAN

Everyone resolves to be healthy with the advent of the new year. But, how many of us take the initiative to stick to this resolution throughout the year. Well, I decided to take a small step in this direction. For scores of people like me, who have a challenge planning out meals that are calorie counted, I recently came across a viable solution in the form of http://burgundybox.in.

In the “Served” Meal Box category mentioned on the site, they have recently started the New Year Resolution plan. This is a subscription plan comprising of six nutritious offerings primarily salads delivered at your door step. Once can choose a full non-vegetarian plan or a vegetarian plan or even a combo plan that has an equal mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.

I opted for the non-vegetarian plan, in which all the six meals comprised of chicken. The calorie count of the offerings in this plan ranged from 230-350 kcal. The investment for this healthy gourmet meal plan was INR 1300 that included the delivery charges as well.
 
Here is a glimpse of the six offerings in this meal plan I recieved from Monday to Saturday.

Vietnamese Smoked Chicken Salad along with Garlic Crostini
The salad was very filling and comprised of lettuce, bell peppers, baby tomatoes, carrots, green beans along with a lightly smoked chicken. A nice crunch was introduced in the salad by addition of crushed peanuts. However, the salad was low on seasoning and the dressing that came along lacked acidity. Also, the garlic crostini served was made of white bread rather than multi-grain or whole wheat bread.

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Burnt Garlic Corn Salad and Shredded Red Onion served with Grilled Chicken and Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Even though this salad comprised of lettuce, red onions and had addition of boiled American corn to bring sweetness, I could not differentiate it much from the previous salad in terms of flavor. The quantity and chicken were superbly done but the salad yet again lacked seasoning and acidity. This time too there was a side of the white bread garlic crostini along with the salad. A suggestion from my end would be to space this and above mentioned salad with another offering.

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Chaat styled Mixed Bean Sprouts Salad with Chicken Tikka and Sweet Tamarind Chutney along with Whole Wheat Wrap
In my opinion this salad was the best offering in the plan. The grilled chicken pieces in the salad were delicious. The chaat style of combining the chicken with the sprouts worked well in terms of flavors and the heat in the salad was perfect. The whole wheat wrap was filled with vegetables, which had hint of sweetness.

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Crunchy Arabic Pomegranate Salad with Sumac Grilled Chicken served with Garlic Crostini
The salad comprised of lettuce, bell peppers, pomegranate, toasted bread shards for crunch along with a very subtly flavored grilled chicken. The dressing provided had good acidity and balanced the sweetness from the pomegranate and heat from the peppers.  According to me, the salad could have been better if the bell peppers added to it would have been julienned instead of being diced. Also the peppers added were raw. Perhaps if they were grilled and added, the salad would have been elevated to another level in taste.

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Whole Wheat Wrap with Grilled Chicken served with Mint Chutney
This meal included two whole wheat wraps with a spicy chicken filling. The mint chutney served along with them was lip-smacking.

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Thyme infused Poached Chicken with Mixed Lettuce served with Lemon Chilly Coriander Dressing
The chicken was beautifully done. The dressing brought the chicken, the greens (especially rucola) and bell peppers in the salad together in a beautiful way and added a nice punch to the salad. A side of the white bread garlic crostini was provided along with the salad.

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The highlights of this plan were as under:

• Delivery Time: The service was punctual, even when ordered for dinner at 8 in the evening.
• Packaging: The meals arrived in a packaging that was neatly done.
• Quantity:  The quantity offered was enough to suffice the appetite of one person.
• Quality:  The quality of vegetables and meat served was excellent.
• Pricing: The pricing is apt considering they have also included delivery charges in this pricing.

Currently, this “Served” Meal Box delivery service caters areas from Santacruz East to Malad East, Goregaon West and Malad West in Mumbai. The company is rapidly expanding its operations to cover a wider area across the city of Mumbai.

A note on Burgundy Box
http://burgundybox.in offers a range of products from “DIY” Meal Kits to “Served” or Ready to Eat Meal Boxes to Party Packs. It aims to cater to the growing urban population that looks at enjoying gourmet meals at home or work but is faced with time and knowledge constraint for preparing these meals. The focus is also to cater to the increasing health conscious chunk of the population.

Burgundy Box is the umbrella brand from Culinary Cart, which was founded in the month of July 2015 by following four partners:

• Ajay Chopra - Has over 18 years experience as a Chef. Was the Executive Chef for Starwood Group at Mumbai and a two season Masterchef. He looks after the Product Design and Implementation.
  
• Shabnam S. Mehra – A marketer with several years of experience in Hospitality and Financial Services.  She is responsible for Marketing, Sales and Service.
  
• Vivek Mehra – An Investment Banker & Fund manager. His was the India head & Managing Director for Aloe Private Equity, a USD 300 mm fund in his last assignment. He is responsible for Investor relations, Vision & Strategy , elements of Financial Control and Technology.
  
• Sandip K Singh – An IIT/ISB graduate, with technology patenting & private equity investing experience. He is responsible for Supply chain management, logistics and delivery  & financial operations.