Dream Dinners Team Taking Recipe For Success To Brookfield

By John Voket

After successfully operating a Dream Dinners store in Middlebury, partners Jennifer Garcia and Mike Tremaglio are thrilled to be bringing this brand new concept to Brookfield. They are hosting an open house at the new Brookfield Commons Dream Dinners store February 21, from 5 to 8 pm.

Anyone interested in the meal preparation system is invited to the celebration to enjoy samples of many March menu items, demonstrations, and meal giveaways. In addition, every person who signs up at the open house for a session will take home a free herb crusted flank steak that night. The partners are also committed to making a $10 donation to the Women’s Center of Greater Danbury for each session booked during the open house.

“We’ve had such great support from the Newtown and Danbury area at the Middlebury location, it just made sense to look for a second location so we’re even closer to our clientele,” says Mr Tremaglio.

Dream Dinners, coined by TIME magazine as “the grandmother” of the burgeoning meal-assembly business, has 252 stores open or opening in 33 states, including six in Connecticut. The company is the brainchild of Stephanie Allen, 44, a former caterer from the Seattle area who has been preparing freezer meals for her family for years.

In March 2002, Ms Allen bowed to pressure from friends and agreed to teach them how to assemble freezer dinners. She invited 12 friends to join her for a “girls’ night out” at a rented commercial kitchen.

Those friends invited all their friends, and Ms Allen ended up teaching 44 people her techniques. A new business was born.

Ms Allen and her business partner, Tina Kuna, 43, opened two Seattle-area locations in quick succession — stores that now draw hundreds of customers per month. Ms Allen attributes the intense interest in Dream Dinners to the fact that “we all have to eat, and most of us would choose to eat at home, if possible.”

She was pleased to welcome the new location to the greater Danbury area.

“Jennifer and Mike are true representatives of the Dream Dinners’ mission to help families eat a home-cooked meal around the dinner table, and to give back to the community,” says Ms Allen. “I am confident that their second store in Brookfield will be as successful as their first store.”

As a working mother herself, Jennifer Garcia sees Dream Dinners as a no-brainer solution to a problem many dual-income families face.

“The Dream Dinners concept has amazing potential to positively change the lives of families,” she says. “I love to cook but I didn’t have time to make anything at all complicated during the week since I was working full-time. With Dream Dinners, families can have more balanced, creative meals during the week and my husband, who typically gets home before I do, is able to start dinner, making for a more relaxing dinner time where we can all catch up.”

Mr Tremaglio explained how it works.

“Customers check out a monthly menu online at www.dreamdinners.com and pick items from a menu featuring 14 dinners,” he said. Menu items may include tempting recipes like steak gorgonzola, chicken with lemon and artichokes, even shrimp & sausage jambalaya.

“Once they pick their menus, they register to attend a meal assembly session at one of our Dream Dinners locations,” Mr Tremaglio said.

Once they arrive at the store, customers circulate through refrigerated recipe stations, scooping freshly cut and prepped uncooked ingredients into provided baking pans or zip-top freezer bags. They take the uncooked dinners home and put them in the freezer.

“The whole process takes less than two hours,” he said.

A customer can budget both portions and cost for the meals, making the process an attractive idea for those counting their pennies and their calories or carbs.

“Customers’ charges average about $225 for 12, six-serving dinners, or around $3.12 per serving,” Mr Tremaglio said. “And they go home with healthy, homemade dinners that anyone can quickly thaw and pop into the oven.”

While the main course is cooking, you prepare a side dish like salad, veggies, or fruit.

 “You’ll spend less time doing all the activities associated with meal time that aren’t much fun,” Ms Garcia said. “We do the shopping, the chopping and cleanup, yet you’ll get to have fun assembling your meals just the way you like them at a session and you get all the credit.”

The food is not casserole-heavy, or TV dinner fare either, added Mr Tremaglio. “My favorite is the flank steak. I absolutely love the flavor and the meat is very tender.”

For those choosing a vegan meal on occasion, every month’s menu offers at least one meatless dish, as well as a variety of low-carb and low-fat options, with the occasional brunch item or dessert. Dream Dinners is what might be called “everyday gourmet” — high-quality food that is ideal for weeknight meals, camping trips, or entertaining.

“A customer would only have to come to our store once a month to free up three nights each week. Most of our customers say they get to spend a lot more time with their family now that everyone is eating at home,” Mr Tremaglio said. “Dream Dinners not only saves time for busy families, it’s high quality, healthy food at a very affordable price.”

Ms Garcia and Mr Tremaglio are united in their strong belief in the company mission.

“A desire to change the direction of my career where I could work with food, help people, and have my own business motivated me to partner with Mike in opening our first Dream Dinners store,” said Ms Garcia. “After seeing the benefits to our guests firsthand, opening a second store was a natural next step for us both.”

The partners are confident that their Dream Dinners store will develop into an integral part of the community.

“We will be the first of our franchise of its kind in the greater Danbury area and once people try our groundbreaking and revolutionary concept, we believe it will become part of everyone’s everyday lives,” said Ms Garcia.

The Brookfield Dream Dinners Open House is Wednesday, February 21, from 5 to 8 pm (snow date: Thursday, February 22) at 246 Federal Road. Just call 775-3338 or log onto www.dreamdinners.com to start putting together your recipes.