SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 // 11
“Alimento” is an Italian word meaning
“sustenance” or “nourishment.” For $84,
or $14 an entrée, each meal kit contains the
ingredients for three dinners for two adults,
with detailed step-by-step recipes and por-
tioned pantry ingredients and sauces. Be-
yond the meal kit service — available for
pickup or delivery on Fridays — Catalano
also offers home chef and catering services,
and hopes to start a series of limited-seating
dinner services featuring wine and beer
pairings at his Astoria home as well as
other venues around town.
A devoted following
Alimento’s meal kit service has already
found a devoted following in the local
food community. Merianne Myers, a board
member of the North Coast Food Web, has
been using the service every week since its
inception.
“Although I cook frequently, I have
learned so much from Andy by using
the kits,” Myers said. “We’re eating new
things and learning new preparations. And,
we know almost all of the folks who are
growing, raising, catching the food. I love
having world-class food that I don’t have
to shop for, and I love having no leftovers.
Andy’s portions are spot on.”
Another regular, Jen Adams Mundy, also
joined the service at the get-go, following
Catalano to Alimento from his Street 14
gig.
“When we learned that Street 14 was
going to end its dinner service, we were
adamant about knowing what (Catalano’s)
next move was,” Adams Mundy recalled.
“We heard whispers about him starting his
own locally sourced and environmentally
conscious meal kit service. We were sure
to stay in the loop so that we could become
customers as soon as possible and learn to
cook like a restaurant chef!”
Myers raved about Catalano’s “transcen-
dent” pastas and house-cured charcuterie.
Adams Mundy recalled her family recently
enjoying a clam and chickpea stew featur-
ing preserved lemon, local greens and pasta
as well as a house-made kimchi fried rice
with spring turnips.
For his part, Catalano was proud of a
recent dish of a honey-glazed spiced duck
breast with roasted heirloom cauliflower
and quinoa.
“It was probably the most technically
demanding dish to cook,” he said, “and I
was concerned that people might be a bit
unsure about duck. But the responses I
received were overwhelmingly positive.”
Both Myers and Adams Mundy had nev-
er really considered using a meal kit service
before Alimento came along, both citing
excessive packaging as a major concern.
Myers has dedicated herself to promoting
the local food economy so shipping in food
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Andrew Catalano loads up his vehicle with ready-to-cook meal kits at the North Coast Food Web prior to delivery.
Farm-first philosophy
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Catalano uses locally sourced ingredients to
construct his meals for Alimento customers.
from elsewhere isn’t appealing.
Adams Mundy added: “The personal
touch and Andy’s attention to his custom-
er’s satisfaction is really unsurpassed. It is
certainly something you would not get with
the larger corporate meal service plans.”
With relationships with 46 North, Lazy
Creek, Spring Up, Nehalem River Ranch
and more local farms, the environmental
footprint of one of Alimento’s meals is
remarkably low. Catalano sources meat that
has been humanely raised without antibi-
otics, and fish that has been sustainably
caught by local producers like Ocean Beau-
ty and Bornstein’s. If fish is on the menu, it
is bought, processed and packed that Friday
morning.
Consider a recent meal kit that included
a dish of roasted, bone-in chicken thighs
and a tomato-and-peach panzanella, a play
on the classic Tuscan tomato-and-bread
salad.
Using his farm-first philosophy, Catala-
no conceived of this meal after getting his
hands on some peaches from Island’s End
Farm on Puget Island, Washington, about
25 miles upriver. The chicken was raised
across Youngs Bay in Lewis and Clark
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Continued on Page 22
Chef Andrew Catalano delivers one of Ali-
mento’s ready-to-cook meals to a customer.