The Bag Boys

It’s Thursday night, and instead of heading out on the town, single guys Kevin Black and Andrew Bofinger are returning from the grocery store where they’ve bought enough stuff to feed several large families. Literally. Over the weekend, Black, 30, and Bofinger, 31, will convert their supermarket raw materials into all sorts of homey meals, which they’ll deliver on Monday to a slew of Baton Rouge parents, couples and single folks who don’t have time to cook.

“I got inspired watching my brother and his family,” says Black, a chef, former Brew-Bacher’s manager and graduate of the Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana. “He and his wife both work, they have three kids, and they sometimes end up eating fast food.”

With his brother, Todd and his family as a case study, Black honed the hybrid catering concept and launched Dishes Are Done last August. The service offers homemade meals through an on-line storefront. They require only reheating; no thawing and no minor prep. Black throws in another amenity to set his meals apart from those at retail outlets: home delivery.

Customers submit orders by e-mail on Wednesday for drop-offs the following Monday.

Black recruited a longtime friend as a business partner, and the two have spent the last four months behind the stove in a rented commercial kitchen. Bofinger had been working as an art director for feature films and commercials, but he was an enthusiastic cook. He spent his early twenties working at local spots like Chelsea’s Café and Brew-Bacher’s Grill.

“It’s hard to describe, but working in a restaurant gives you such a buzz, and we wanted to recreate that-but without having to answer to waiters harassing you for dishes,” says Bofinger. “This is creative and fun, and it serves a purpose.”

Strategies that help working families get something decent on the table during the week fuel everything from Rachel Ray’s wildly successful 30-Minute Meals to ubiquitous ready-to-eat supermarket fare like refrigerator sushi and rotisserie chicken.

The national chain Dream Dinners, where families cook on-site in truncated fashion and return home with meals for the week, is up to 200 locations nationwide. A local version, The Supper Studio, closed last year due to increased rent and a failed buy-out.

“We tend to make things on the healthy side,” says Black. “We want to have enough items that kids will eat, but that single people or couples without kids will be interested in too.”

Dishes Are Done meals include an entrée and two sides. The menu rotates monthly and has featured mains like spicy chicken and mirliton curry, stuffed bell peppers, garlic roast beef, chicken noodle soup, vegetable-stuffed manicotti and seafood-stuffed shrimp. Side dishes include succotash, balsamic grilled vegetables, roasted vegetable risotto, eight bean salad, pan-roasted Asian broccoli and others. Prices range between $21 for 2 people and $41 for 6. dishesaredone.net