TV Chef Rachael Ray’s Virtual Restaurant Is Now Delivering Tahini Caesar Salads in Houston

TV chef and cookbook author Rachael Ray has opened a new pop-up restaurant, but diners will have to download the UberEats app to try it.

Dubbed Rachael Ray to Go, Houston is one of 13 cities across the country to score Ray’s “virtual restaurant” partnership with the food delivery app, according to the Houston Chronicle. Coinciding with the release of Ray’s new cookbook Rachael Ray 50, the pop-up will allow diners to order dishes from the book that are prepared in “independent, delivery-only kitchens,” per Bloomberg. Which, of course, means that Ray won’t be whipping up your buffalo chicken chili with ranch or tahini caesar salad herself.

Virtual restaurants are trending across the country as it becomes more and more expensive for independent operators to open brick-and-mortar locations. According to Eater.com, UberEats boasts more than 1,000 virtual restaurants on its platform, partnering up with locals to open virtual sushi burrito spots and dumpling destinations in cities like Dallas. This is the app’s first foray into the space with a major name like Ray, who commands millions of fans and runs a food media empire.

Rachael Ray to Go will operate in Houston until the end of 2019.

• Uber Eats’ Path to Delivery Domination: Restaurant Inception [Eater]
• With Rachael Ray, Uber Eats Starts Virtual Celebrity Restaurants [Bloomberg]
• Rachael Ray virtual restaurant opens today in Houston [Chron]