The Kitchenette Harvest Lasagna starts with brown rice pasta and adds layers of flavorful butternut squash, creamy gournay greens and slow-roasted tomatoes, served with a side of roasted spring leek and pea ragout along with walnut parsley pesto sauce.
The Kitchenette Harvest Lasagna starts with brown rice pasta and adds layers of flavorful butternut squash, creamy gournay greens and slow-roasted tomatoes, served with a side of roasted spring leek and pea ragout along with walnut parsley pesto sauce. Credit: Kitchenette photo

When Mother’s Day rolled around this year I decided to forgo flowers and workout gear gifts for my daughter, Julia, a mom of two young daughters of her own.

Instead, I gave her four dinner entrées from one of Santa Barbara’s most dynamic young entrepreneurs, Sophie McNally, who launched her company, Kitchenette, the month before.

McNally came up with a great solution for busy moms — and anyone, actually — by providing delicious and nutritious frozen meal entrées made with fresh, high-quality ingredients.

A mother of two herself, McNally moved to Montecito from Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Good food and a variety of choices are definitely in her wheelhouse. The native New Yorker is the former CEO of some of New York City’s most famed restaurants: Minetta Tavern, Pastis and Balthazar.

Scanning local markets for meals that would please everyone was a challenge, so she came up with an entrepreneurial response: creating family-style meals that are delicious, healthy and fresh.

Striving to prepare food that’s as close to its natural state as possible, Kitchenette limits refined sugars and uses no seed oils no preservatives. The company shops from local farmers and  ranchers, and opts for organic whenever possible.

Preparation is kept simple with a team of expert chefs and advisers, a commercial kitchen and a blast freezer to capture ingredients at their peak of freshness.

  • Kitchenette is the brainchild of founder Sophie McNally, who was frustrated at the lack of choices for prepared meals that would satisfy all of her family’s finicky eaters.
    Kitchenette is the brainchild of founder Sophie McNally, who was frustrated at the lack of choices for prepared meals that would satisfy all of her family’s finicky eaters. Credit: Kitchenette photo
  • The Kitchenette Harvest Lasagna starts with brown rice pasta and adds layers of flavorful butternut squash, creamy gournay greens and slow-roasted tomatoes, served with a side of roasted spring leek and pea ragout along with walnut parsley pesto sauce.
    The Kitchenette Harvest Lasagna starts with brown rice pasta and adds layers of flavorful butternut squash, creamy gournay greens and slow-roasted tomatoes, served with a side of roasted spring leek and pea ragout along with walnut parsley pesto sauce. Credit: Kitchenette photo
  • The Chicken Tinga Burrito Bowl has something for everyone.
    The Chicken Tinga Burrito Bowl has something for everyone. Credit: Kitchenette photo
  • Lasagna with pesto, anyone?
    Lasagna with pesto, anyone? Credit: Kitchenette photo
  • Among the Kitchenette meal options are the Chicken Tinga Burrito Bowl, Harvest Lasagna, Santa Maria BBQ Chicken and Spaghetti Squash & Turkey Meatballs.
    Among the Kitchenette meal options are the Chicken Tinga Burrito Bowl, Harvest Lasagna, Santa Maria BBQ Chicken and Spaghetti Squash & Turkey Meatballs. Credit: Kitchenette photo

Each entrée comes with heating instructions for no-brainer dinners that everyone can enjoy. McNally stands by the three zeroes: zero prep, zero planning and, wait for it, zero cleanup.

My own generation also was challenged with the pick up, drop off, what to make for dinner dilemma that made many of us feel like short-order cooks. We dreaded dinner hour, too, and how to satisfy each finicky member of the family.

I waited to share the Kitchenette concept with my readers until my daughter, her husband and their picky kids weighed in on the four current entrées available. Everyone had their favorite, but the consensus was that all were delicious.

Kitchenette is working on more seasonal dishes, and even smaller portions for two people instead of families. But it’s already a great go-to option on nights when cooking is not feasible.

Deliveries are between noon and 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays in Summerland, Montecito, Santa Barbara and Goleta.

Click here for more information.

Judy Foreman is a Noozhawk columnist and longtime local writer and lifestyles observer. She can be contacted at news@noozhawk.com. The opinions expressed are her own.