I have heard of that; the NYTimes did an article a few months ago. It's the new big thing- helping people get their meals together. There's at least one in NYC; I will try it someday.

I have friends who do that sort of thing. They seem to love it. There's a few companies that do stuff like that, chains and independent.

The food you take home is raw, but it's all ready to be cooked.

The only beef I have with our local one (which is independent, called Quick Dish Kitchen, is that they seem to have a real stick in the bum about people preparing for anything smaller than a family of 4 to 6. If you want to make food for just two you need to bring your own containers, get pre-approval if you're splitting with someone else for them to come with, blah blah blah.

There was a mefi thread about it a few months ago - interesting points on both sides.

One just opened here. I personally don't get it. I have a kitchen; I know where the supermarket is; I know how to cook & I do a lot of it and if I want to cook a weeks' worth of meals on one day I can do it on a Sunday at home and when the kids were young I often did just that. I did this to SAVE money, not to spend extra. So the whole appeal of this is lost on me and I am kind of faintly baffled and wondering if I should be appalled at yet another Sign of the Beast. But then, you know, I just wish those damn kids would get off my lawn.

I personally don't get it....I know how to cook

That's why you don't get it. A lot of people like nice food but don't know how to prepare it and can't afford the fancy catered stuff. A friend of mine has used it, but he didn't like it much because he thought it was too much work- go over there, prepare it, bring it home, cook it. And he had the same complaint about large portions; there's just him and his wife.

I kind of like the idea and thought of checking it out, but because I'm already okay in the kitchen, I don't have a strong enough urge to follow through.

This seems ridiculous. What's the difference between buying a cookbook, going to the store to get your ingredients, and then cooking/assembling at home?

My thoughts exactly, mgl. I keep wondering not only those points but it also seems hard to believe franchises can make money doing it.

How much does this cost? If it's comparable to eating out or ordering delivery, why bother?

For some reason I thought you cooked for the week at the store. You bring raw meat home? Are you just preparing side dishes and such at the store?

There are a couple in Orlando, which is the largest city next to mine, but none in my neck of the woods. I have read a few articles about this kind of thing and it seems to be a popular concept. From what I have read, it seems to be pricey. I suppose if you eat all of the food and have a nice, homecooked meal each night it's worth it. I know I have wasted money by letting produce go bad, etc. because I didn't feel like chopping that night.

Another idea is getting a friend or two together, plan out a week of dinner recipes, and prepare them in your own kitchen. This way it's not drudgery for people that don't like to cook.

I think the appeal is that this removes and consolidates a lot of the ancillary steps that people who are experienced home cooks take for granted. I've never done Dream Dinners and it's ilk before, but I'm tempted. I'd be more tempted if it didn't sound like such a haven for soccer moms.

For instance, I think gathering ingredients is a much more tedious task for someone with a poorly stocked and poorly organized kitchen. There's a sizable monetary and time barrier to entry to getting the kitchen organized and stocked with basic ingredients and supplies. You also have to be mindful enough to make sure that you're not arriving home from the grocery store after forgetting one necessary ingredient, or buying something that you already had at home.

So, yeah, this has all the advantages and disadvantages and potential soullessness of any other conveyor belt operation. When you build a car in a factory line, you still have to do all the steps that you do when you build a single car, but you move between steps more efficiently. HOWEVER, we'd still rather see people engaging in creating their own product, even if through baby steps, than going to McDonald's, right? Hopefully this will work as a stepping stone for people transitioning to a more engaged eating experience, as opposed to the reverse transition that seems to be feared. However, if home cooking is truly superior to Dream Dinner's pseudo-take out, then the gateway will probably work in the correct direction.