Paulo Wei, a 25-year-old entrepreneur, restauranteur and Columbia University student, has launched Our Kitchen, a new farm-to-table national meal delivery service, to bring healthy and authentic Chinese dishes to consumers across the country. All ingredients are sourced from Our Kitchen’s 43-acre farm situated along the Neversink River, and dishes are prepared onsite by chefs before being flash frozen.
Born in São Paulo and raised between Hong Kong and Beijing, Paulo Wei is committed to bringing authentic Chinese dishes inspired from his childhood meals to the homes nationwide, in a convenient, efficient and delicious manner. Our Kitchen will ship flash-frozen delicacies ranging from $12 - $20 with selections including farm-grown beef & carrot dumplings, seasoned fish dumplings, beef & onion dumplings, sanxian (shrimp, pork and oriental chives), vegetarian dumplings (mushroom, carrot, wood ear mushroom and tofu), organic vegetarian bao zi (buns) and mooncakes, maintaining optimal freshness and flavor.
Paulo Wei was inspired to start Our Kitchen by his grandmother, Li Ya Wen. In his childhood years, Paulo would make the same vegetarian dumpling recipe with his grandmother that is now a staple on the Our Kitchen menu. “Our family had always said, ‘One day let’s open a restaurant that serves the food we eat, homemade Chinese food,’ says Wei. “I want to create an Asian Blue Hill Farm experience and working farm upstate, as well as a serious food brand with incredible products that align with authentic Chinese food culture, including the movement of the universe, the flow of energy, the rotation of the earth, and seasonal changes,” added Wei.
For those looking to escape New York City for a bucolic adventure, Our Kitchen is offering private tours of the farm and grounds, and a chance to shop at the farm stand for fresh ingredients. On a tour of the gardens, guests can also see firsthand how the farmers cultivate products using traditional and contemporary techniques, including fermentation and crop rotation. Seasonal crops include eggplants, chives, scallions, and radishes to more exotic ingredients like the onion-flavored young leaves of the Chinese toon tree. In maintaining traditional Chinese farming techniques, calming music is piped throughout the farm to aid the growing process.
Paulo and the Our Kitchen team also plan to transform the farm’s 80 horse stables, two large houses and Olympic-sized horse arena into a boutique hotel and eco-destination with Japanese-style tatami floors. The immersive resort will welcome guests from around the world, offering a luxurious and holistic culinary and wellness experience just hours outside of New York City.
For more information on Our Kitchen, to purchase the famous dumplings or follow the progress of the Our Kitchen boutique hotel, please visit: www.ourkitchen.us.
ABOUT OUR KITCHEN
Our Kitchen aims to create a space for people to enjoy quality food, to embrace other’s accompaniment, and to spread love. Our Kitchen sources food from our farm in upstate New York. Our Kitchen aims to work diligently in becoming the leader in service within the food industry.
Our Kitchen is more than just another farm-fresh delivery service. We as a company focus on our relationships with the customers and their experiences with our products. After all, food is just our byproduct, our real product is capturing and creating a moment.
ABOUT PAULO WEI
Paulo Wei is the Founder and Co-owner of Our Kitchen and is currently an undergraduate student at Columbia University. Prior to his education in Columbia, Paulo was a student at USC and transferred to a Music Conservatory in upstate New York. After being classically trained as a Bel Canto Tenor, Paulo applied and was accepted to both Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University School of General Studies. Born in Brazil and raised in Hong Kong/Beijing, Paulo is determined to create quality products for his customers.
