ipsa provisions creates thoughtfully-sourced, artisinal frozen dishes in NYC, Westchester, and New Jersey.

ipsa provisions

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When I initially wrote an excoriating review of an Ipsa dinner, I said I would I will be happy to come back and upgrade my review if the next dinners I taste actually live up to the description and if I got a reasonable answer from ipsa, which at the time had not happened.  My first Ipsa dish was the Autumn Mac + Greens, which was accompanied by a photo showing  an appetizing pasta with identifiable pieces of Swiss chard, caramelized onion, and cubes of organic local squash in what looked like and was described as a cheesy sauce.  I got a  disappointing container of overcooked pasta with miniscule flecks of green (like from frozen chopped spinach) and maybe six 3/4-inch cubes of squash. no discernible caramelized onions and no discernible cheese taste.  I ate about half of it  (unhappily) and then for the second half, roasted some butternut squash, picked some chard from my garden, and added cheddar, parmesan and cream cheese--and it was really quite good--the idea for the dish was great and it should have been delicious. I wrote them and got a  response:  "I'm very sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the Autumn Mac + Greens. I've gone ahead and passed your feedback along to our culinary team. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the rest of your order!"  Which was not satisfactory to me. At that point, I found the name of the founder and wrote him on LinkedIn.  Today I got a lovely  and apologetic email from him, enough to encourage me to keep trying ipsa.  By then I'd tried the chicken pot pie, which had great flavor and lent some credibility to the good reviews I'd read about ipsa  in the New York Times and New York Magazine. I realize I'd written on a holiday week and so I'm going to give them some slack for that. So that's it so far (this is more namby-pamby than my first post, which I'm now editing.) At that point I was hoping that Ipsa stands by its reputation and that as the founder of the comp
any promised, they improve their quality control so that the dishes sent out have all the ingredients) but also that the rest of the food stands up better to my expectations.  The first half of the chicken pot pie did show off their potential though it was runny.. Reheated, it was great.  Third try was pasta Bolognese, which was sufficiently good (the other diner really liked it, but I like my own more).  I wouldn't mark them down for the the Bolognese, but I wouldn't order it again.  Am now down to the final of my four, farrow mushroom soup, then we'll see.  I did try it, and to my surprise it had all the greens that the Autumn Mac + Greens lacked.  It also had other vegetables (carrots, maybe onions)  and a lot of different grains.  What it didn't have--at least not noticeably -- was mushrooms  or mushroom  flavor.  And the farro was hard to spot amid the other grains. I am a big fan of mushrooms and farro, and was looking forward to a soup with that wonderful mushroom umami flavor mixed with the nuttiness of farro but instead got a kind of winter stew.  Bottom line:  I won't reorder, because I can cook most of their items better than they can, and I know where to get a really good chicken pot pie,  that lives up to the flavors they promised in their description. 

 

Sometimes they go heavy on the alliums to bulk up a dish. 

So convenient, so filling, so tasty. It’s the perfect in between in cost and convenience when you don’t want to cook but aren’t in the mood for anything specific to order. I like the suggested additions, though most meals standalone. Don’t sleep on the cookies, amazing. Makes an excellent gift for new, sleepy parents! 

This is far and away the best frozen food I've ever had - totally worth the price. The ease of having delicious, nutritious food in the freezer when you've had a long day or just don't feel like spending $ on delivery or cooking, this is the best. 

Could use a bit more variety or meal rotation to keep me coming back.

Tried a few ipsa meals recently and was impressed. The enchiladas, tamales, chicken curry soup and oxtail ragu were all winners. It's not cheap, but at the equivalent per person of a meal from a fast casual spot, is great to have handy for a home-cooked dinner. Would definitely by more. 

ipsa's been a staple in my life for years — their innovative product, fun packaging, and easy delivery system is all you can ask for. Not to mention the food itself! The food is chef-made and it shows. Everything I've had is so good and easy to prep. Get the pizzas and desserts!

Almost everything needs a little more salt. But I suspect they reserve the salt in an attempt to manage sodium levels. 

Ipsa has been super handy to have while parenting two kids under two. High quality food, well-priced, and saves us a ton of time. Nearly everything we had tasted good and is worth the price.

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