Chinese, Italian or butter chicken for your house party? In Delhi-NCR, millennials turn to home chefs for a gourmet spread

Arushi stumbled upon such an app on Instagram. She downloaded the app, where she was directed to choose among various services – private chef, gourmet experiences and bartenders, among others.

At this point, the customer can also choose the chef-designed menu or customise the menu as per need. Based on the number of dishes and members, the rate is fixed usually starting from Rs 3,000.

Akshat Gupta, co-founder & CEO at COOX, an app that provides house party services, received multiple orders every hour on New Year’s Eve.

“We received around 500 orders across the country on December 31. At other times, the demand is region based. Delhi-NCR sees a surge in bookings during Diwali, while Mumbai, Thane and Pune peak around Ganesh Chaturthi. Bengaluru sees a spike during Christmas and New Year. But during events like India-Pakistan matches, there is uniform spike in orders across the country,” Akshat said.

Launched six years ago, the start-up currently has a 100-member team with a network of around 5,000 chefs.

Akshat said the app is most popular among mostly the young and recently married. “People of this group are more experimental, not just with the traditional way of hosting parties but also when it comes to the Indian palette. They no longer stick to just North and South Indian meals.”

They mix and match cuisines. “In any random order, you will see at least 3-4 different cuisines. They love having Chinese, Italian continental starters at the same time. But the main course still mostly comprises North Indian food such as dal, roti, rice, butter chicken… Some also try continental meals,” Gupta said.

Vansh Banga (29), who founded the start-up ‘Look My Cook’, along with his brother three year ago, said most of his customers are in the 25-35 age group. “When we study the demographics of our customers, the 25-35 age group comes up on the top. Also, 90% clicks on our Facebook and Google ads come from this section,” he added.

Maintaining that preferences have changed over the years, Vansh said, “A few weeks ago, we were conducting a study on our users and figured out that earlier, 60% of our customers in Delhi used to opt for Punjabi food earlier. But now, people in the 25-35 age group, who throw New Year parties and lunches in farmhouses and Airbnbs, are not sticking to just one kind of food, they are combining multiple cuisines.”

The demand is more in Gurgaon and South Delhi, he added.

Madhukar Pandey, an IT professional based in Noida, discovered such an app by accident when a cook cancelled on him at the last moment a few years ago. “I have a three-year-old child, and going to a restaurant to host a party is a bit of a hassle. The home chef concept suits me,” he said.

“I used to order from food delivery apps, but the costs are high, also the food, by the time it is delivered, becomes soggy. Further, I don’t know the quality of the food. When it comes to home chefs, I am buying my own ingredients,” said Madhukar.

Majority of the chefs working with such apps are freelancing. ‘It’s like an Uber service for chefs,” said Akshat.

Ganesh (34), who has been a chef for 18 years and worked in restaurants, came across such apps two years ago through social media. “I cook at various households across Delhi-NCR. Whenever there is a request on the app, and if I’m a few kilometres away, I get the booking. I got around 45 bookings in December.”

Hailing from a town close to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Ganesh said he arrives at the household early to understand how the kitchen works.

“After having worked in a few restaurants, I like to enjoy the freedom of experimenting with food and not confining myself to the set taste. It also pays me around Rs 60,000 a month,” he added.