Where January arrives with wide-eyed optimism, by March, a sledgehammer of cold reality hits. You can throw those carefully crafted goals right out the window. Work undoubtedly has ramped up a gear, life returns to the daily grind, and time feels like a preciously scarce resource. All those lofty ideas to be more creative in the kitchen? Sorry, darling, it’s spaghetti again tonight. Tomorrow too.
Enter stage right, Avant Delivery, a local to-the-door prepared meal service which seeks to alleviate those dinner doldrums, while freeing up oodles of time; no more weekly hair-pulling over “what shall we eat this week”, no more shopping, cooking, or cleaning. The Salt Lake-based business simplifies the whole process.
In contrast to other delivery services you might have relied on in the past, Avant requires no subscription. No recurring billing or the need to remember to skip a week, should plans change. The service is completely on demand, just remember to place your order each week by Friday, 2.00 p.m.
Each week, Avant offers a menu of four entrees, three “power bowls”, as well as a handful of soups, salads, and sides. A small number of gluten-free and dairy-free options are available, too. Founder Samuel Schwartz tells me, “The meals are made to be balanced and healthy, but we always put taste and quality as our number one priority.” Examples include Braised Lamb Shank or Chicken Normandy (Braised apple cider chicken thighs with rosemary mashed potatoes) – certainly a step above what I’ve sampled from similar-minded services in the past.
Relying on Avant to solve dinnertime blues is a simple process. Customers have until 2.00 p.m. each Friday to place their order for the week ahead. Saturday sees every meal cooked from scratch, “every vegetable is hand-cut, every meal is hand-plated”, says Schwartz. The meals are delivered the very next day to customers’ doorsteps. The dishes arrive packed thoughtfully, stacked in an insulated tote, each clearly labelled with expiration date and reheating instructions. The meals are 100% ready to eat and designed for a quick microwave reheat. From refrigerator to table in five minutes, in my experience.
For Schwartz, the 100% handmade approach is critical, delivering a fresh, local product. “We invest multiple days of prep time on every meal before we complete the cooking process on Saturday each week. We are going against the factory-made meal prep that everyone has tried and just feels meh about. Our goal is to bring soul into every meal that we cook and have our customers wowed. We go out of our way every day to make these as close to perfect as possible.”
Before you raise a hand about the eco-impact, Schwartz takes the matter seriously. “I started the company with a mission to make sustainability the easiest option”, explains Schwartz. “I get it. Everyone is too busy to spend hours sorting recycling etc. So Avant was built to handle all of the sustainability for you. This is our hallmark, 100% zero waste packaging!
We deliver in reusable containers and a reusable tote bag. We pick up your containers and the reusable bag on your next order. We professionally wash and sanitize the containers/bags at our facility in Salt Lake. The containers and bags are reused up to 1,000 times before eventually being recycled. All you have to do is rinse out the containers, then toss them in your bag. We do all the work here.”
In a world of food delivery apps, Avant’s service offers another option for the time-pressed, or kitchen-averse, with prices comparing favorably too, with most dishes priced under $20. Bonus points: no creeping over to your neighbor’s house in pajamas to stealthily sneak away those mis-delivered tacos.
To better understand Avant, I sampled several of the dishes and was impressed by both the quality, quantity, and smart execution. One of the aforementioned power bowls was stacked with a generous portion of citrus-spiked pork, while a butter chicken prep wouldn’t be out of place at a sit-down restaurant. Exec chef Dallon Stewart’s experience clearly shines through in each prep.
And if all that sounds like something that might give you a lift in the kitchen right now, we’ve partnered with Avant to offer a welcome offer to trial the service. And again, remember, there’s no subscription required, no strings attached.
Use either code GSLC25 or visit Avant Delivery via this link and receive your first 6 meals for $60!
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Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.  Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.   I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.  What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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