Peters Township resident’s meal-delivery business, family weather COVID-19 storm
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Sloane McNary, Gretchen’s daughter, shows off one of Girl Friday Cooking Co.’s specialities, super-healthy protein balls.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
From left are Sloane McNary, Madi Donaldson, Beth Ali, Gretchn McNary, Domenica Merante and Jake Momeyer.
The business may be called Girl Friday Cooking Co., but most of the action takes place on Monday.
That’s when owner Gretchen McNary and her crew are busy preparing meals for delivery each Tuesday. And with more people than ever placing orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, a correspondingly greater amount of preparation usually is involved.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Beth Ali, left, and Gretchen McNary review a delivery schedule.
One week, all that work ended up going for naught.
“Tuesday at about 1 p.m., my husband called me and said, ‘I have COVID,'” McNary recalled. “What we ended up having to do was get rid of all that food we made. I had to go home and call 120 people, and let them know that they weren’t getting their food.”
The good news is Ron McNary made a full recovery, no one in the family or business became ill, and Girl Friday’s customers were nothing but understanding.
“Gretchen made the right decision in that situation, because there were so many unknowns around COVID. And even though we were told that it could not be transferred with food, we don’t want to take any chances with anyone getting sick,” kitchen manager Beth Ali said. “We shut down for a couple of weeks, and everybody was good.”
And so the beat goes on for a business that grew out of Gretchen’s cooking hobby and has made it through a couple of changes of venue, with Girl Friday – the name is a twist on what Robinson Crusoe called his right-hand man – operating in South Fayette Township since the summer of 2020.
Because the move from McNary’s Finleyville location took place in the middle of the pandemic, the Peters Township resident hasn’t able to host a grand opening, but one finally is scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 9.
“We’re just going to have a nice, big party and celebrate, because we should,” she said. “We work hard.”
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Domenica Merante brings a wealth of culinary experience to Girl Friday Cooking Co.
Girl Friday’s meals – which are never frozen – are made from scratch using fresh, quality ingredients, sourced locally whenever possible, with a particularly experienced chef lending her talents to the cuisine.
Domenica Merante was trained professionally in Lucca, Italy, and is certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana in using the proper artisan traditions of authentic Neapolitan pizza.
She also has training as a butcher and, well, you may not want to ask about how she learned to debone a rabbit.
After the closing of her own business, Merante Brothers Market in North Strabane Township, she actually advised McNary against going full bore with Girl Friday.
“I’m so glad she didn’t listen, because she’s done great and it’s a whole different concept than a restaurant,” Merante said. “This can grow into something a lot bigger.”
For her part, she plans to conduct cooking classes, continuing the type of training she still does with chefs in Italy. Also, McNary recently hired a new employee, Kiara Long, to help run the catering side of the business as a growing number of events are popping up on everyone’s social calendar.
Another member of the staff is Madi Donaldson, who joined as a dishwasher and made such a good impression that she was cooking the following day. Her fiancé, Joe Bardakos, co-owns the highly successful Bridge City Brinery food truck, which happens to have a storage arrangement with Girl Friday.
McNary happens to have known employee Jake Momeyer for most of his life, as he’s best friends with Gretchen’s son, Soren.
Speaking of which, rounding out the crew is her older daughter, Sloane, a student at Peters Township High School, which is her mother’s alma mater.
The McNary children, also including Freya, all were on the young side when Gretchen launched Girl Friday as focusing primarily on food associated with the Paleo diet, which revisits the way humans ate way, way, way back when.
That aspect has changed over the years.
“A lot of people think that we are still a Paleo delivery service, and we are not,” McNary said. “Even though we still have those healthy things on the menu, we’re catering to the everyday family.”
Along with Sloane, members of her own family help with the business, and she gives special credit to her husband, who has been working remotely from home.
“For years, when he worked downtown, I would have to operate my business, and if the kids needed something at school, I had to leave. I had to manage all that,” she said. “With him being home, I don’t have to think about it. He just takes care of everything. I couldn’t do any of this without him.”
For more information, visit girlfridaycookingco.com.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Madi Donaldson sautés a batch of green beans amandine.