Introducing Palette Dome Cuisine !
The business
Meet Palette Dome Cuisine
Palette Dome Cuisine is a DC-based boutique catering and personal chef company, born from the food vision of Chef Hagai Mesilati, making healthy meals from premium, organic and predominantly local ingredients. For about 20 years, Chef Mesilati, a former engineer who turned a passion for cooking into a career, has fed families who want food that’s both delicious and good for them.
The kitchen takes a modern Mediterranean approach: seasonal ingredients, pasture-raised and humanely raised proteins, and cooking methods like roasting, steaming and sautéing instead of frying. Rather than covering dishes in salt and heavy sauces, the focus is on letting the flavor of the ingredients, spices and herbs come through.
Palette Dome Cuisine has found its niche with clients who have food allergies, dietary restrictions or conditions like high blood pressure. One client has ordered weekly meals since 2009, and her doctor asked what she was doing differently. Meals are packed in recyclable, plastic-free containers wherever possible, and the team also cooks for weddings and private events, including an annual 100-guest gathering in Annapolis.
Business Overview
Palette Dome Cuisine
📍Washington, DC area
“With my old driver, he would call an hour before delivery to say he’d be an hour and a half late. Now, if a driver isn’t available, another driver on Metrobi can step in. After I put in a delivery, I don’t have to worry about it.”
Challenge
Palette Dome Cuisine started with the chef driving meals personally, then relied on individual drivers. Some left, some rushed routes and spilled food, and one began asking to move delivery days. A trial with a low-cost gig delivery app ended with food at the wrong house and meals spilled out of their containers.
Solution
Metrobi gave Palette Dome Cuisine automated, flexible delivery booking with careful independent drivers. The chef books deliveries in the system, gets confirmation and photos when clients receive their meals, and if a driver isn’t available, another driver on Metrobi can take the job.
Result
Palette Dome Cuisine’s meals have been arriving in the promised window and intact. Adding an extra delivery day takes minutes, and the chef no longer has to manage drivers, so the focus stays on the food.
The Challenge
Why did Palette Dome Cuisine need a new delivery solution?
When the business started with two families, the chef simply drove the meals after cooking. As it grew, Palette Dome Cuisine relied on individual drivers, and each arrangement eventually broke down. One driver left to care for a newborn. Another drove like it was a race, so meals arrived spilled across the bag instead of in their containers. A third was reliable for nearly two years, until scheduling conflicts led to requests to deliver a day early or late, or calls an hour before a route to say he’d be an hour and a half behind.
For Palette Dome Cuisine, the customer comes first: if clients expect delivery between 1 and 3 p.m. on Tuesday, that’s when it has to arrive. A brief trial with a low-cost gig delivery platform made things worse. The first order went to the wrong house, and the second arrived with the food out of its boxes. The chef needed a partner that would treat soups, salads and prepared meals with care.
The solution
How does Palette Dome Cuisine manage delivery with Metrobi?
Metrobi found Palette Dome Cuisine through a connection, and after one more difficult week with a personal driver, the chef decided to give it a try. Deliveries are now requested through the platform, and the chef gets confirmation and photos showing that every client received their meals, something individual drivers never provided.
Flexibility is the biggest change. If a client asks for a Friday delivery, the chef prices it in the system, shares the cost with the client and books it, with no need to check whether anyone on the team has time to drive. Through Metrobi, the chef works with careful drivers who regularly handle delicate deliveries, clients can tip drivers directly, and if a driver isn’t available, another driver on Metrobi can take the job.
The results
What changed for Palette Dome Cuisine after switching to Metrobi?
Palette Dome Cuisine’s meals have been arriving on schedule, upright and intact, with photo proof of every delivery. The chef no longer gets last-minute calls about late drivers or has to rearrange delivery days around a driver’s schedule.
Metrobi isn’t the cheapest option, but the small added cost per week is easily shared across the families Palette Dome Cuisine serves, and the reliability is worth it. With delivery handled, the chef can focus on what matters most: cooking healthy, flavorful food and helping clients eat better.
In their words
Hagai Mesilati is the Owner and Chef of Palette Dome Cuisine, a DC-based boutique catering and personal chef company. After 17 years as an engineer, the chef turned a lifelong passion for cooking into a business, and has spent the last 20 years helping clients eat healthier through modern Mediterranean cuisine.
