I wonder, Wonder...

More questions for and about the $3.5 billion startup making your family dinner in a van

photo courtesy of Wonder

Last week at a conference hosted by The Spoon, I conducted a quick fireside chat with Katherine Prime, the chief customer officer at Wonder. Wonder is the startup I’ve previously referred to as “the company that cooks you dinner in a van outside” — which Prime said is still an accurate description. Customers place on-demand food orders on the Wonder mobile app, and a short time later, a van outfitted with a high-speed convection oven arrives, the chef-driver finishes the dish, and delivers it to the front door. 

I got to ask her plenty of questions, but truthfully, I have *more* questions. They’re not about Wonder’s business, specifically, but about the underlying concept: 

Could a new, tech-enhanced logistics company upend restaurants?

Thanks to its branded vans, Wonder looks like a delivery company. But pitting it against DoorDash and co. undersells Wonder’s efforts. Instead, Wonder taps into the benefit of a corporate chain restaurant — scale, brand recognition — for customers in a few affluent New York City suburbs. In the next decade or so, Wonder plans to launch in many more markets across the country. You don’t go to a restaurant, the restaurant comes to you. It’s less about the act of delivery, and more about recreating a restaurant experience worth paying for at home.

If this idea sounds wild to you, you’re not alone.