Kiely’s Cooking – Convenient comfort food with a conscience

Kiely’s Cooking, the local service that will deliver chef-prepared meals anywhere in Tompkins County, might just be the answer to that age-old question: “What’s for dinner?” Owners Polly and Dan Kiely offer a complete menu of thoughtfully prepared meals that are made fresh from local ingredients and quickly frozen to preserve flavor. Unlike other meal prep plans, there are no long-term commitments and no pressure to cook ingredients before they spoil. Customers can pop the individual or family-sized portions into the oven whenever they want a hot, healthy and delicious meal.

For not much more than the cost of an empty-calorie fast-food meal, busy professionals or stressed-out parents can relax knowing that their weeknight dinner is taken care of. Adult children of elderly parents can make sure their loved ones have balanced meals, even if they live too far away to do the cooking themselves. And what about those meal chains for new mothers or friends recovering from surgery? You want to help, but honestly can’t take on one more thing? Kiely’s Cooking can take the preparation AND delivery off your plate.

“Our customers fall into all of the above categories,” Chef Dan said. “People have also begun ordering our meals as gifts. We’ve been lucky in that we’re filling a niche.”

What kind of food are we talking about? The September specials of Kiely’s Comfort Food line include a Napoleon Stack of tomato, eggplant and portobello mushrooms in a homemade tomato balsamic dressing; a Beef Vindaloo in a mildly spicy Indian curry sauce; and a Cajun Chicken Corn Chowder made with chorizo. Their menu is eclectic and changes seasonally to make best use of locally available ingredients. Many of their meals are vegan or gluten-free, and all can be customized for dietary restrictions upon request.

“Right now it’s tomato time of year so we have a soup that we make from our own garden tomatoes and our fresh dill too. It’s vegan and gluten-free,” Dan said. “Learning to cook in the Ithaca area, I’ve had to cook every possible kind of diet known to man. That has allowed us to be flexible.” 

Dan’s resume reads like a dining guide of area restaurants—Viva Tacqueria, The Chariot, Stonecat Cafe, Lot 10—where he’s held roles from busing tables to Executive Chef. Polly’s focus has always been more on sustainable farming and environmental agriculture.

“I always wanted to be a gardener and an organic farmer,” Polly said. “I worked for the USDA and on various organic farms in the area. I worked at Baker’s Acres and Bool’s Flower Shop. I’m really a plant person.”

Polly’s backyard garden provides some of the vegetables and herbs used in Kiely’s Cooking, though most come from their CSA share at Sweet Land Farm. The Kiely’s are committed to using as many local goods and services as possible, like meat from Wixom Farms and flour from Farmer Ground. They also seek to make their carbon footprint as neutral as possible by limiting deliveries to one day a week. 

The Kielys had a name for their business a full decade before delivering their first meal to a customer. Dan had done some catering and private cheffing, but it wasn’t until the couple were laid off together during the pandemic that they had the time and resources to fully invest in the project.

“Polly and I had both worked from the time we were 14,” Dan said. “We realized that we didn’t want to work for other people anymore. This was our chance. So we started putting our brains together on what we could do.”

With Dan’s extensive experience as a chef and Polly’s managerial skills, the idea for Kiely’s Cooking was born. Polly got serious about honing her baking skills and learning how to create a web site. Dan began experimenting with recipes that would freeze and reheat well.

“The meal delivery service was something that combined our abilities, but there was a real need for it too,” Polly said. “You couldn’t go out to restaurants. People were getting burned out on having to cook for themselves all the time. You could do curbside pickup, but what if you didn’t have a car? What if you lived in one of the outlying areas with no grocery store? You were kind of stuck. We thought this would be a helpful service, especially during the pandemic, and hopefully beyond.”

That has proven to be the case, as Kiely’s Cooking has continued to grow and expand their list of offerings to include on-site and cold catering, as well as Chef Dan’s private chef services.

“This summer has been a very busy one for us,” Dan said. “We’ve done some special events. The big news is that we received a grant from Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce which has been wonderful. It has allowed us to buy new equipment and get to the next level.”

Thanks to the Chamber grant, the Kielys were able to serve breakfast at Grassroots’ Across the Way campground, prepare Thai food for a couple of events at Boundary Breaks Winery, cater a large wedding and an Ostomy Awareness fundraiser, as well as having a booth at the Trumansburg Farmers Market every Wednesday during the summer season.

Dan also has availability for private chef work. Thinking about throwing a dinner party? Once you agree on a menu, Chef Dan will take it from there. He shops and preps all ingredients, finishes cooking on-site, serves your guests, and leaves you with dessert and a clean kitchen.

“We can come to your AirBnB or your house,” Polly said. “Hey, you got a campsite? We’ll bring our grill and cook you a fantastic dinner!”

You can’t get much more convenient than that.

Visit kielyscooking.com to place an order or arrange for catering or private chef services. Please be aware that orders need to be placed no later than Tuesday for delivery within Tompkins County the following Sunday.