A NEW food delivery service has launched in Newcastle, with the aim of making mealtimes easier.
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Yumborama kicked off operations in November. The service offers home-style cooked meals freshly prepared in their kitchen at The Landmark Building in Charlestown.
There are more than 30 meals on the menu that range from Thai, Indian and Italian flavours to modern Australian and pub classics, which are freshly prepared and then delivered to customers as far and wide as Cameron Park, Belmont, Hexham and the inner city.
Delivery is free and orders can be placed online as late at 5pm for delivery by 7pm the same day.
"People are busier. They don't have time to cook, so we are setting out to offer something that is helpful to people and their weekly planning," explains Richard Vidler, who runs the operation with business partner and long-time friend Phil Apthorpe.
"We have tried to eliminate every barrier we could think of when it comes to ordering, so no delivery charges, no subscription and no minimum order."
Vidler says that while the food delivery industry is a growing market, Yumborama's offering differs to operators such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo.
"It's not like someone who is spur-of-the-moment ordering something through Deliveroo. We never set out to be that," Vidler says.
"We want it to be something that can help people plan their week and plan their meals, particularly those that need to provide meals for other people such as parents and their children, or the elderly who might have lost interest in cooking.
"They can say, 'OK, I'm going to be really busy on these nights of the week' and they can order their meals ahead."
The chilled meals are delivered in an insulated cooler bag and can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. Depending on the dish, it's simply a matter of heating the meal in the microwave or oven (frozen options, such as lasagna, are also on the menu and can be stored for up to three months).
"We're not delivering traditional takeaway that is coming hot, all of our meals are delivered chilled and that way you can choose to eat it as you get it or put it in the fridge and eat it later that evening," Apthorpe says.
"You might have different members of the family coming in at different times of the evening. I think the days of everyone siting around the table and eating dinner together have kind of passed us by."
The pair enlisted chef Ben Holland to oversee the development of the menu, which is updated monthly.
Holland, who worked alongside Lesley Taylor at Osteria in Merewether and in kitchens at The Mary Ellen, The Delany, El Chapos and The Whistler, spent three months developing the dishes.
"It took a lot of development work to be able to cook and prepare the food, and then for it to be able to be reheated in a way that it would still come out and taste really fresh, and not like you're heating up leftover takeaway," Vidler says.
"We have enough variety on the menu too that you can keep the kids happy. It's about not having to order from three different places to get what everyone wants."
The menu includes handmade pies (starting at $6) and flavoursome butter chicken ($14.50), which is served in a container separately to the rice and can feed one to two adults, depending on your appetite.
There's also vegetable korma with rice ($14), crispy pork belly with mash, beans and gravy ($19.50), aubergine parmigiana with mash ($12.50), spicy chicken and chorizo paella ($12.50), as well as sides including garden salad with feta ($6.50) and hand-churned ice-cream (from $4.50 per tub).
Vegetarian, gluten-free and vegan options are listed on the website, and all of the packaging used is biodegradable.
"The big deal about what we do is we actually care what happens from start to finish," explains Apthorpe, who has personally delivered orders at the end of the day near his home at Cameron Park.
"People, I think, sometimes confuse us with a delivery company, which we're not. We care like the waitress might care, so we make an effort to ensure we can deliver the food when someone is home when possible.
"That's our attitude. We're not a delivery business, we're a restaurant that delivers."
Yumborama is a change in direction for Vidler who returned to Australia last year after living overseas for a decade operating nightclubs in London.
He reunited with Apthorpe, who he first met more than 40 years ago on the handball courts at Corpus Christi Primary School in Waratah, with a plan to transition into business together.
Apthorpe, who has owned restaurants in Newcastle and worked for a major fast food company on an international level, took on the task of working out the logistics of the delivery side of Yumborama.
The pair have big visions for the company, with hopes to branch into other regions such as the Hunter Valley, Central Coast and beyond as the business grows.
"One thing that attracted us to the delivery business, unlike the physical business where you're limited with space, is that it's not limited by the number of tables and chairs we have got," Vidler says.
"The sky is the limit."
Yumobrama has also utilised the space in Charlestown to operate a cafe which is open from Monday to Friday serving Floozy Coffee, as well as a range of quick lunchtime options including wraps, pies and Yumborama meals in single-serve sizes, and house-baked treats such as brownies.
- Yumborama is located at 175 Pacific Highway, Charlestown, and open from 7.30am Monday to Friday. Visit yumborama.com to order meals online.
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