2. Home cooks, not pros
The Umi Kitchen team vets home cooks, who apply and present three recipes. “Before running an Umi kitchen, home cooks must go through an extensive screening, training and evaluation process,” says co-founder Khalil Tawil. Thus far, Umi has selected about 50 home cooks from more than 400 applicants in the Manhattan market. Once selected, cooks get Food Handler certified by ServSafe, and the Umi team conducts kitchen check-ups to ensure all kitchens meet Umi’s health, safety and quality standards, he says.