What they want is homemade food and now they are helping chefs who don’t work to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli businessmen Oren Saar and Merav Kalish Rozengarten founded WoodSpoon because of a desire to find food like grandmas used to make. “We skip meals from home, like authentic homemade hummus, and kunefe,” Saar said, referring to Middle Eastern cakes made with dough like noodles.

They launched the application in beta testing mode last November so that New Yorkers who are bored eating at restaurants can see what the chefs cook in their neighborhood cook at home. They started with only two dozen cooks in three New York City neighborhoods – only half of them had professional work experience, said Saar.

Then COVID-19 was hit and the number of chefs screaming to enter the application exploded. Since March, the network of chefs approved by WoodSpoon has jumped from about 30 in three ZIP codes – Williamsburg, Park Slope and Upper West Side – to 100 in 50 ZIP codes, including Queens, Hoboken, NJ, and Jersey City.

Now 90 percent of chefs have professional experience, including from big names like Nobu, Cipriani, and Nougatine Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Saar said.

WoodSpoon will have more, but they cannot process applications fast enough. “After the city was closed, we were flooded with more than 500 questions from chefs who didn’t work,” Saar said. “They have sent documents, but it takes time. We are a small team. “

Kevin Martinez joined WoodSpoon three weeks ago after he was dismissed from his job as a line cook at Nougatine.

Martinez, who lives with his girlfriend in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan, rides his bicycle to Union Square Greenmarket to shop for food. The meal includes pappardelle pasta with pecorino meat and basil for $ 10; and stinging branzino with sweet potatoes topped with roasted corn and avocado for $ 15.

Consumers pay the 15 percent service fee that goes to WoodSpoon, as well as taxes. Branzino, for example, can be obtained for $ 18.78 including a $ 2.25 service fee and a $ 1.53 tax. Free shipping.

“WoodSpoon is a savior,” Martinez told Side Dish, saying he would “get out of my mind” without structure after losing his restaurant job. “That really gives me hope. If I can get enough orders a day, this is what I will do. Cooks like me, with an entrepreneurial spirit, will love it. “

The increase in supply has not translated into the same surge in demand from consumers, Saar said, but the application ended beta testing mode on Tuesday and raised money for marketing.

“It’s too early to say,” said Saar, adding that they were still “trying to get the words out.”

Regarding the very important COVID-19 safety issue, Saar said all chefs have been inspected, including home visits, now carried out by Zoom, to ensure they meet food handling and safety requirements.

All cooks are required to wear masks and gloves and package their food with supplies provided by the company.

As for public health issues, the state of New York allows people who sell baked goods, jelly or snack mixes to prepare food from home, even though they must get approval to do so. In other food categories, chefs need to be subject to regular public health inspections.

“The onus is on them,” said Saar, adding that WoodSpoon itself is not responsible to the public health authority for the home chef’s inspection. “They are joining us now and we are doing our part to make it as safe as possible.”

This application provides chefs with proprietary tools to help them determine the price of their dishes based on the cost of their ingredients, which according to Martinez has helped him learn about calculating food costs when preparing menus. Ground beef, for example, costs almost double – from $ 5 per pound to almost $ 9 per pound.

“I dream of opening my own restaurant and this is the way to start,” Martinez said.