Premium restaurant delivery services continue to thrive Post COVID-19 lockdowns

The COVID lockdowns saw many restaurants move from dine-in to takeaway in an effort to stay afloat.

Now, premium restaurant operators who once would have detested the notion of delivering a takeaway meal have started to embrace the concept.

Yet, as Australia’s hospitality industry slowly opens up and patrons return to their dine-in habits, will people continue to order their high-end takeaway meals?

Melbourne-based chef and the man responsible for the launch of online delivery service Providoor, Shane Delia said "We are banking on it."

Providoor delivers dishes for reheating from high-profile Melbourne restaurants including Maha, Flower Drum and MoVida with delivery in Victoria, South Australia and NSW.

"We are not looking to slow down," says the chef. "We hope to grow enormously in 2021.

"I started Providoor not just to save us in COVID, but to make changes in hospitality that we've wanted for ages," he says. "It's part of a plan to future-proof restaurants." 

Merivale restaurant group in Sydney had plans to open a take home service before the pandemic started. The group's food and beverage director Frank Roberts said "We never had time to implement Merivale at Home.

"When COVID hit we thought 'this is the moment'."

The company had set up finish-at-home menus from such restaurants as Mr Wong in the city, Totti's and Bert's at Newport in the Northern Beaches.

Melbourne chef Charlie Carrington’s Atlas Masterclass launched in March 2020.  It offers ingredient boxes that change weekly and include some prepared elements. Meals are also backed by video tutorials.

"People try the Masterclass then want the eat-in experience," he says. "We are busier than ever."

Atlas masterclass has delivered more than 500,000 meals since launch.

The restaurant delivers to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, along with regional Victoria and NSW. It is not priced at a premium, with the spend being on par with buying ingredients from a supermarket. 

"We are onto a good idea and people have connected with us," says Carrington. "I had nothing like this in mind before COVID but I like the entrepreneurial spirit and start-up culture."

Carrington is looking to expand into Queensland and South Australia, and is also creating a dedicated Masterclass app.

Irit Jackson - 19 January 2021