Rome’s Kitchen ATL is taking over, rebranding meal prep services

On an early chilly Friday morning inside the commercial kitchen, PREP, chef Rome, founder of Rome’s Kitchen ATL, begins prepping 35 meals for one of his clients while “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You) by UGK featuring OutKast is playing in the background.

35 meals normally take him about two hours, because everything is planned out ahead of time. 

While making grilled chicken, Mediterranean salmon, seasonal vegetables, and Korean BBQ ground turkey,  Rome spoke to The Atlanta Voice about his journey with cooking, being laid off from his corporate job, the importance of meal prepping, and more.

Rome’s Kitchen ATL

Chef Rome’s love of cooking started when he was seven years old, learning from his dad, who was a self-taught chef.

“My dad wanted me to learn how to cook, so he would teach me, and I always stuck with it because I enjoyed doing it,” he said. “It became a passion of mine, and I eventually wanted to elaborate on and learn different things about cooking

Rome’s Kitchen started because he felt there was a need to bridge the gap between nutrition, labor, and enjoying meals that people do not typically see.

“People needed food that was both flavorful and functional,” he said. “As a chef, I understand nutrition, culture, and community, so I felt like Atlanta was the perfect place to do that.”

Rome’s Kitchen ATL began in August 2024, three days after being laid off from a corporate job he had had for years.

“I wanted to do something at that point, something I loved and did not feel like work anymore,” he said. “I knew cooking was that, and I wanted to give it a shot, so I tried it. Three days after being laid off, I started the business, and I’ve had clients and customers every weekend since.”

Rome says one of the biggest parts to helping him get Rome’s Kitchen ATL started was his ability as a graphic designer.

“I’m also a web designer, so I designed the website and started the Instagram page around the same time I was laid off,” he said. “My personal page took off with support from my followers, and within the first two to three weeks of starting, I was averaging about 70-80 meals a week in my apartment.”

This, in turn, further solidified his passion and direction, as he now meal-preps for his clients full-time.

Rome’s Kitchen ATL focuses on creating healthier options through a meal-prep-style menu, while offering distinct flavors.

“What started as my own Sunday meal-prep routine quickly turned into a concept. I would experiment with different cuisines like Thai and Caribbean, build out menus for myself, and that’s what eventually evolved into Rome’s Kitchen,” he said. 

Clients will order their meals on the website by Friday midnight. Rome will do the shopping on Saturday, and on Sunday morning, he’s in the kitchen prepping meals for his clients. It’s a 12-hour turnaround from start to finish.

“I start cooking between the hours of four and eight on Sunday mornings and deliver the meals later that night from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.,” he said.

When it comes to why he wanted to focus on meal preparation, he says he feels there’s a negative connotation around healthy food. He says he wanted to show people you can still enjoy the meals you love, like soul food, by swapping out ingredients and making them something you can eat daily.

“Most meals we enjoy, it’s not something you can eat continuously, so I swap out certain ingredients, make a few changes to it, but I try to stick to the same flavor,” he said.

Additionally, Chef Rome says he has an alternating menu where he brings back items his clients love.

“I challenge myself to explore different cultures through food and keep raising the creative bar. I’m open to experimenting, and that works in my favor because nearly 90% of my clients are long-term subscribers,” he said.

Rome says the subscription starts with four weeks: you get charged on the same day for four weeks, and you get your meals delivered. “I rotate that throughout the weeks, and my clients love it,” he said. “By Thursday of the following week, after they have received their meals, I send them an email or text for feedback on what they liked, what they didn’t like, or if there are any changes they’d like to see because I care about how they feel. I’m servicing them.”

Support & the future

Rome says his family was not surprised when they learned of his next moves after being laid off.

When he first started Rome’s Kitchen ATL, he wanted to get the biodegradable bowls, but didn’t have the funds for them, so his family all pitched in and got him his first set.

“There’s a group chat with me, my mother, and siblings, and I reached out to my family about me starting the business, and I told them about the bowls,” he said. “They all send me money, and I went to get them right away, and ever since my first week, it’s been taking off. They all were really excited for me and to see where this goes, my mom especially is incredibly grateful and she loves it.”

His mother, Janise Jones, also showed up to the kitchen to express how proud she is of her son and told him to keep moving forward.

“I’m proud of him, and I appreciate the love he put into his food, because he loves what he does and his food, and I love to see the smile on his client’s face when they talk about how good the food is,” she said.

As a mother, Jones says, when you see something your child loves to do, continue to encourage them, support them, and be their biggest fan.

“I am his biggest fan, I’m the taste tester, and it’s just a beautiful thing to witness his creations and his dreams come to life,” she said. “I also love to see his clients rave about how he changed their lifestyles, making them healthier.”

In the next five years, Rome sees Rome’s Kitchen ATL expanding to other cities like his hometown, Chicago, and Washington, DC. In today’s time, it’s more convenient to grab meals from fast food restaurants and seek out less unhealthy options. Chef Rome says he would also like to open a brick-and-mortar location for Rome’s Kitchen within the next five years.

“I want to compete with fast food places and let people know there are other options out there that are cleaner. On the menu, you can see all my ingredients down to anything I buy from the store,” he said. “This concept makes people make better decisions because most of the time, people decide to get fast food based on convenience and may not have the accessibility to something cleaner.

He also said sometimes, you may not be able to fully dive into your dream, and you may have to work a normal 9-5 job until you can stabilize yourself.

“You may have to work a corporate job and do both at the same time, but there will come a time and place where you must venture out and step out on faith,” he said. “That was the biggest thing I could have done, which was taking that leap of faith and believing in myself.”