Healthy, gourmet food delivered directly to your door twice a week not only in Eureka Springs, but Grassy Knob, Eureka West and Holiday Island from Eureka Dinner Club, a venture started by chef Wil Larsen and his wife, Kelsey. The couple relocated here from Dallas about a year-and-a-half ago seeking a less hectic lifestyle in a “friendly town with abundant charm.”
“When our daughter was born, we realized we wanted something a little more peaceful with not as many people,” Kelsey said.
They started providing meal deliveries on Wednesdays and Fridays at the end of October.
“A large part of our customer base is older people who, even before Covid, didn’t get out a lot,” Kelsey said. “The feedback we’ve gotten is that they haven’t been to a restaurant since March 2020, so this is such a breath of fresh air. People still enjoy having someone else make their food for them. The locals have really responded well.”
News of the businesses got a big boost with their Thanksgiving dinner offering. They were expecting about 20 orders but received 77.
“It got the ball rolling and it has been doing really well since then,” Kelsey said. “We get all the orders online the day before delivery. We are methodical about arranging deliveries so we only have to make one drive out to the outlying communities. One of the things my husband is a genius at is calculating meal portions so we don’t have a lot of waste. We don’t have to pay for outside labor which is another way we are able to offer delivery and the high-quality food.”
Wil has more than 15 years of experience, including working as the executive chef at a top Dallas steakhouse, and executive chef at Two Sisters Catering, and as a catering chef for celebrity chef Kent Rathbun’s company.
Examples of recent meal offerings include carrot ginger soup, miso cod (baked cod glazed with a savory miso sauce), and quinoa fried rice, described as a healthy twist on traditional fried rice that includes peas, carrots, onions, eggs, garlic, soy sauce. The meals cost $15. Add-ons included mixed berry cobbler and stuffed spuds.
Other recent popular offerings included meatloaf, pork chops and a New Orleans-style meal.
“We are a bit homestyle and a bit gourmet,” Kelsey said. “It is good-quality food that is all made from scratch.”
The couple have been renting the commercial kitchen space next to Brews on Pine Street for two days a week on delivery days. Starting the beginning of this month, they moved into that space full time. In April they plan to open a salad shop, offering eight prepackaged salads including chicken cobb salad and Asian chopped salad. Bakery items are made fresh each day.
“The prices will be really reasonable,” Kelsey said. “There is no inside seating, but we are near picnic tables at Sweet Spring.”
The couple also have the Eureka Dessert Club which has a variety of baked goods including double-stacked chocolate, strawberry or yellow cake, coffee cake, cookies, lemon bars, brownies and pie.
Wil does all the cooking and baking.
“I’m a terrible cook,” Kelsey said. “I do the website, handle orders, talk to the customers and do most of the deliveries. Another thing we’re going to be doing in 2021, as more people get vaccinated and start feeling safer, will be cooking classes. Wil is a great teacher. He is good at explaining and giving feedback based on what people need help with. We want it to be interactive and fun.”
The pandemic’s surge in To Go orders across the country has caused a huge amount of packaging waste. But the Larsens are trying to avoid all that waste by allowing people in the dinner club to return containers for sanitizing and reuse.
“You can leave them on your porch for your next delivery or contact us to arrange a pickup,” Kelsey said. “The Carroll County recycling center doesn’t take food grade plastic. We wanted to make sure we weren’t adding to the landfill. And we wanted to make sure food arrived exactly how we packed it with nothing leaking or messed up. The container has a black bottom with clear plastic top that seals nicely. Another big thing is the containers are microwave and dishwasher safe.”