GREENWICH VILLAGE — A recently launched food delivery service backed by Momofuku chef David Chang just expanded its delivery zone to include Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Tribeca, Nolita and the West Village.
Anyone below 14th Street and west of Bowery or Fourth Avenue can now order from a varying selection of lunches and dinners with the Maple app or online at the Maple website.
The service was launched to bring meals made by the city's hottest chefs to people's doors. Users choose from a seasonal menu that changes daily, to get freshly made, ready-to-eat dishes brought to them for lunch or dinner.
The kitchen is overseen by a Culinary Board of Directors led by Chang, with the menus created by executive chef Soa Davies, who has experience doing the same work for Midtown's Michelin-starred Le Bernardin.
Advisers on the board include Dan Kluger, formerly executive chef of ABC Kitchen who is now working on opening his own restaurant on West Eighth Street, as well as Del Posto executive chef Mark Ladner and former executive pastry chef Brooks Headley. Headley has a James Beard Award under his belt and Ladner has previously been awarded a Michelin star.
A recent Maple menu offered an array of gourmet dishes, including a mushroom poblano chimichanga with cauliflower and kale, arctic char with edamame succotash and roasted carrots, a chile-glazed chicken dish with roasted turnips and a side of pesto pasta.
The vegetarian option was quinoa meatballs with spicy tomao sauce and spaghetti squash.
Every dish specifies exactly what's in it and whether it's spicy, vegetarian or suitable for a variety of allergies, from dairy to nuts to gluten.
Users can also order Maple's brand-new "green juice" made from cucumbers, green apples, kale, celery, spinach, ginger and lemon, priced at $9 for a 17-ounce bottle. Other drink options are limited to Boylan's seltzer, cola and diet cola, or classic glass-bottle Coca-Cola.
Maple also offers desserts made by Milk Bar pastry chef Christina Tosi, and offers catering for businesses or parties.
The service lets diners know how long the deliveries are taking at that moment. For example, on an average weekday evening, Maple promised meals were getting to their hungry recipients within 30 minutes of the order being placed.
Maple is planning an "Order Ahead" program by the end of the year that will allow users to pick out meals up to a day in advance and set the window of time most convenient for them for delivery.
The company is eying Chelsea, the East Village and Midtown for its next expansion, but New Yorkers interested in bringing the service to their 'hood can influence that decision with Maple's WhereToNext site.
