About Gourmet Everyday
Chef strikes balance with delivered meals
Huntington Woods woman helps busy people who want to lose weight and eat smart.
Eric Pope
Special to The Detroit News
HUNTINGTON WOODS -- Michelle Kobernick has a one-stop solution for anyone who has made a New Year's resolution to lose weight and/or eat healthier meals. Kobernick, 39, was a health and physical education teacher before becoming a personal chef in 2002. Last year she formed Gourmet Everyday LLC to provide appetizing meals that are nutritionally balanced and have the right serving sizes.
More than 200 people tried the service the first year, and currently there are between 50 and 60 customers, including some with New Year's resolutions. "People want to regain control over their eating habits and lose some of the weight they gained over the holidays," Kobernick said. "Some just want to feel better."
Kobernick said she worked with a nutritionist and a medical adviser to develop the menus prepared daily by an undisclosed catering kitchen in Royal Oak. Nothing is frozen, and no preservatives are used. She and a staff of five part-time independent contractors pack and deliver the meals in coolers for consumption the following day.
A typical daily menu includes spinach-and-artichoke frittata for breakfast, a Nicoise salad, which has tomatoes, anchovies, black olives, and other ingredients, especially green beans, tuna, and hard-boiled egg, for lunch and Asian beef for dinner. There's a morning and afternoon snack and even a dessert with dinner. The cost is $39.95 a day under the five-day plan.
The nutritional balance and measured serving sizes are a big change for many people who have been relying on fast-food and take-out restaurants to squeeze meals into their busy schedules.
"It's the appropriate amount of food and the right combination that we should all be eating anyway," Kobernick said. Everyone at Epoch Restaurant Group in Novi who tried the service lost at least 10 lbs., according to Karen Craig. Craig found that eating Gourmet Everyday meals wasn't like being on a diet. "The food is excellent and so is the variety they offer," she said. "It seemed like a lot of food."
Many customers attain significant weight loss in the first seven days. Some drop off the plan after reaching their dieting goal, while the people who are concerned about maintaining a healthier diet tend to stick with the plan longer, according to Kobernick.
"We're teaching people how to eat healthy in the long run," she said. "We're retraining them for a healthy lifestyle. This is not a quick fix."
Gourmet Everyday is part of a growing national trend. For instance, Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating has almost 250 distributors in nine states, including 29 in Michigan. Customers pay about $110 a week for three meals a day totaling 1,200 calories or about $130 for 2,000 calories a day. Twice-a-week delivery is extra.
Lisa Merrill, a registered dietician with offices in Royal Oak and Woodhaven, likes the concept.
"I like that it's made from scratch and prepared locally every day," Merrill said. "It's almost like having your own personal chef." Merrill said people who have been eating at restaurants often will actually save money. "This is a trend that will continue to grow," she said.
Gourmet Everyday LLC
- Location: Huntington Woods
- Founded: 2005
- Product: Fresh, prepared meals delivered daily on three-, five- and seven-day plans
- Information: www.gourmeteverydaydelivery.com