From platform to restaurants: Chef Ivy Stark new restaurant features dishes tested on CookUnity

New York, NY - April 23, 2026. CookUnity, the chef-led meal delivery platform, today announced a new milestone for acclaimed chef Ivy Stark. Stark is opening her new restaurant, BKLYNwild, at Time Out Market New York, with a debut menu that features two dishes developed, tested, and highly rated by CookUnity subscribers.

In 2025 alone, CookUnity served more than 40 million meals, giving chefs access to an unprecedented volume of real-time eater data, from ratings and reviews to repeat orders. This scale is transforming the platform into a powerful testing ground, where chefs can refine dishes and validate demand before bringing them into physical restaurant spaces.

Since joining CookUnity in 2023, Chef Stark has sold over 750,000 meals on the platform, with her menu growing +146% year-over-year in 2025. Her Vegan 'Chorizo' & Black Bean Chili alone reached more than 24,000 orders in 2025, while the Feliz Bowl grew nearly 40% year-over-year, together earning over 2,000 five-star reviews, clear signals of strong and sustained consumer demand¹.

Before launching BKLYNwild, Chef Ivy used CookUnity to explore and refine her plant-forward concept. By testing recipes directly with thousands of eaters, she was able to see customer reviews, fine-tune flavors, and better understand how consumers responded to plant-based meals, reducing the guesswork that typically comes with opening a new restaurant. Both featured dishes were not only created on the platform, but shaped through continuous eater feedback.

Chef Ivy Stark, known for her work at New York institutions Dos Caminos and Rosa Mexicano, brings this data-informed approach into BKLYNwild, a plant-forward concept centered on vibrant bowls, seasonal produce, and comfort dishes made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The flexible menu features customizable bowls with a range of toppings, from plant-based protein options like spicy tofu and a black bean chipotle "burger" to additions like flat iron steak, egg, and chicken, designed to appeal to both dedicated vegans and those seeking lighter, more nutrient-dense dishes.

"CookUnity gave me a direct line to what people actually want to eat," said Chef Ivy Stark. "Being able to test dishes, refine them, and then bring them into a restaurant knowing they align exactly with what locals are craving is incredible. This is a revolutionary platform that will transform how chefs shape their future restaurant menus.

Eaters are shaping restaurant menus

CookUnity provides chefs with direct access to eater behavior, ratings, reviews, and repeat orders, creating a real-time feedback loop that allows dishes to evolve before ever reaching a restaurant. "CookUnity was built to democratize access to great food, but what we're seeing now is something even more powerful," said Clara Fernandez Quiroga, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of CookUnity.

"We're becoming an engine for culinary innovation-where chefs can test ideas, learn directly from eater feedback, and bring proven concepts into their restaurants with confidence." "For chefs, this changes everything," said Fernandez Quiroga. "Instead of relying on intuition alone, they can see exactly what resonates with people at scale, and use that insight to build stronger, more successful restaurant concepts."

Expanding the role of chefs beyond restaurants

CookUnity's model enables chefs to go beyond the constraints of traditional restaurants, giving them the tools to test new ideas with lower risk, reach a national audience, and build more resilient, data-driven businesses.

"Technology is allowing chefs to operate in a completely new way," added Fernandez Quiroga. "They're no longer limited to a single kitchen or location. They can experiment, learn, and scale, and then bring the best of that into the physical world."

As CookUnity continues to grow, stories like Chef Ivy Stark's, and emerging chefs launching restaurants after scaling on the platform, highlight a new paradigm: one where food, data, and creativity come together to shape the future of how we eat.

About CookUnity

CookUnity is America's first chef-to-you meal delivery. With a mission to empower chefs to nourish the world, CookUnity offers a solution that proves eating well can be convenient, affordable and delicious. The revolutionary model puts the power directly in chefs' hands, offering fully equipped kitchens, predictable revenue, and direct access to feeding millions across the nation. Subscribers get access to 180+ award-winning chefs, a rotating weekly menu of 300+ dishes, and fresh, fully prepped meals right at their doorsteps in sustainable packaging. Since 2016, the team has grown rapidly from a small kitchen in Brooklyn, New York, to eight kitchens across the nation and Canada. For more, head to cookunity.com.

¹ Based on CookUnity data of total orders of meals in 2025 compared to 2024.