Hungry House, the “anti-ghost kitchen” aimed at star chefs and culinary creators, launched “Season 02” of its offering, featuring new menus from its lineup of dynamic chef creators. The New York-based ghost kitchen also announced its second location, opening soon in Manhattan, as well as a city-wide partnership with ultra-fast grocer, Jokr.
With its focus on rotating chefs and menus, likened to people “binging” a season of a TV show, Hungry House’s second season includes chef Pierce Abernathy, who has a community of more than 500,000 followers, up-and-coming NYC chef Tony Ortiz with his Puebla-style “super tortas,” and chef-influencer Woldy Reyes, who is debuting a Tofu Sisig Bowl in collaboration with Asian pantry staple brand, Omsom. Hungry House will also offer a curated selection of Caffè Panna ice cream pints and mini-pints.
“For the next generation of digitally-native culinary stars, having their own restaurant might not be the north star in the way it was before,” said Hungry House founder and CEO Kristen Barnett. “Hungry House offers creators the unique ability to create exciting new menus and build a food business.”
In its own words, the company focuses on making it simple for chefs to launch with on the platform; for creator Pierce Abernathy, “it’s been a treat to work with Hungry House. They have made it seamless to bring my recipes to life and I’m excited to have this opportunity for people to try my food.”
Woldy Reyes, one of the existing chefs on the platform, partnered with Omsom, which Barnett describes as an “exciting first step towards building relationships with CPG brands that are looking to partner with great chefs and reach customers through new channels.”
Omsom co-founder, Kim Pham, said “it’s rad to be able to give the Omsom community a new way to engage with our proud + loud sauces outside of their own kitchens—especially with such an incredible partner + friend of the brand like Woldy!”
Building on the early success of its first location in Brooklyn, Hungry House will expand to Manhattan’s West Village next month in partnership with No Thing Group. During the day, Hungry House will operate the kitchen, serving the menus for pickup and delivery. In the evening, nightlife experts No Thing Group (ex-Tao, One Oak and more), will turn the space into a destination for craft cocktails. On Monday nights, when the bar is closed, Hungry House will host one-of-a-kind events.
Hungry House is further expanding distribution through new channels as it launches a city-wide partnership with Jokr, the ultra-fast grocery delivery company, to distribute the Hungry House chef-created meals on the Jokr app.
“We are thrilled to partner with Hungry House as their deep connection and commitment to talented young chefs in New York City means that we can grant our customers access to incredibly high quality meals delivered to them quickly, whilst also giving up and coming chefs access to a much wider customer base,” said Stephen Corradini, US head of commercial.
Hungry House has brought on investors active in the creator economy as they expand the business, including Marshall Sandman, managing director of Animal Capital, a Gen-Z focused venture fund.
“Kristen and Hungry House are revolutionizing the digital kitchen model; their focus on operational efficiency and capturing the culture is best in class.” For Hungry House, 2022 will be a year of explosive growth as they form additional strategic partnerships and open more proprietary kitchens in New York City and across the country.
