Cape Town’s Newest Dark Kitchen Delivers Food from Popular Restaurants To Your Door
The Covid-19 lockdown has had devastating effects on South Africa’s restaurant industry. In an effort to stay afloat many restaurants have had to think outside the box and come up with unique delivery offerings that bring a taste of the sit-in dinning magic to the homes of foodies who weren’t able to go out. Dark kitchens operating as delivery only with limited staff and overheads have become a popular model for many restaurant owners looking to keep cash flowing in.
With plans to only open its sit-down restaurants close to the end of the year, the Slick Restaurant Group is the lastest player to enter the dark kitchen game in Cape Town. The group launched what is essentially a food delivery service from their city-based central kitchen for their popular Waterfront restaurants: Balducci, Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers & Ribs and Wings & Things. Their food offerings also include two exciting new brands: Pizzaway (handcrafted artisan pizzas which originated in Naples) and Whattaburger (offering value-for-money 130g burgers).
Also known as ‘virtual kitchens’, ‘ghost kitchens’, or ‘cloud kitchens’, Dark Kitchens are essentially restaurants without a front of house; independent operations creating food for a variety of brands and cuisines with all food prepared in one central kitchen, with obvious cost benefits. Food is ordered online, for delivery to the customer. No alcohol can be offered as part of a food delivery package, as most dark kitchens have no liquor licence.
New tastes and flavours coming your way
While the group’s other restaurant brands are well known to Cape Town food lovers, the introduction of two new exciting food brand is just another way the Slick Restaurant group is innovating during these times.
Offering a selection of ten competitively priced wood-fired Neapolitan-style artisan pizzas along with gourmet shakes and desserts, Pizzaway is sure to make a splash in the market. The pizzas are handcrafted using BIGA (a type of pre-fermentation used in Italian baking) which is made fresh every day and allowed to ferment for 12 to 16 hours to fully develop its unique flavour. This process produces the ultimate crispy pizza crust.
For burger lovers, there’s new concept Whattaburger with a selection of eleven value-for-money 130g burgers from the creators of the famous Gibson’s Burger. All burgers are chargrilled to perfection with Gibson’s secret basting and seasoning and served on a home-baked bun with their secret no 6 sauce and house-pickled deli cucumber. The menu offers a choice of beef, chicken, vegetarian and vegan options and fries can be ordered as a side sprinkled with Gibson’s popular seasoning.
The group will also be introducing other brands in stages and customers can look for to concepts like Ranoushe Lebanese Mezze, Balducci Chilled and Frozen Foods, Red Radish Vegan, as well as two surprise new brands joining the dark kitchen party very soon.
Foodie heaven, straight to your door
Currently, the Slick Restaurant Group’s deliveries are being done by Uber Eats and Mr D but they will also be signing up with other delivery companies. Deliveries are currently available in the City Bowl, City Centre, certain parts of Walmer Estate and Zonnebloem and Atlantic Suburbs Areas – with more areas coming soon. Online ordering will also soon be available on the Slick Restaurant Group website with restaurant staff doing deliveries direct. Food Collection will follow in the near future.
To ensure the safety of its staff and customers, the Slick Group have introduced gold standard food safety and hygiene measures for both food preparation and delivery. Their kitchen is fogged regularly with Covid-19 compliant sanitiser, only strictly monitored Slick staff are allowed access to the kitchen with temperatures taken on arrival, stringent hand sanitation protocol is imperative, all ingredients entering the kitchen are sanitised, hygiene and routine sterilising of surfaces is mandatory, all delivery transport carrier bags and pizza boxes are sanitised and sealed and staff and drivers wear shields or masks at all times.
To find out more and place your order now visit the Slick Restaurant Group website.
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