Plant-Based Chef Matthew Kenney Launches Meal Delivery in Southern California

Celebrity chef Matthew Kenney is expanding his plant-based culinary empire to meal delivery. XFood is a collaboration between Kenney and e-commerce company PlantX, of which he is culinary chief officer.

“Our goal is to always reach as many people with plant-based options as possible,” says Kenney, who launched the first of his many vegan restaurants almost 30 years ago. The three-day meal plans (prices start at $119.95) consist of six à la carte lunch and dinner options as well as cold-pressed juices from Little West. The menu includes orange chicken mushroom with broccoli and brown rice, sweet soy and lemongrass-glazed tempeh and kung pao cauliflower with tofu and zucchini.

Delivery service is currently limited to Southern California — the meals are prepared at a Los Angeles kitchen — but there are plans to expand throughout the U.S. “It would’ve been great to bring it to a new part of the country where plant-based might be underserved,” Kenney says, “because we do have a lot of options in California, but our team is here. We felt like it was necessary to be very hands-on the first few months so that we could make proper adjustments and actually take action based on feedback.”

Kenney knows plant-based diets aren’t easily embraced by many people. He advises newbies to take their time. “It could be one meal a week; it could be a full day a week; it could be for an entire week,” he says. “Take note of how it feels to spend the day eating plant-based because that really was what did it for me. It was a big difference in how I felt and how my body reacted to it.” plantx.com