Hinge is not normally where one goes to start a business relationship, but that’s how Ryan McKenzie and Stevie Andujar got their start.
“Right now we’re sort of in a marriage,” Andujar said jokingly.
The pair did not stay together as a couple, but they have remained friends and business partners. They run Table Ghost Kitchen together.
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It is a venture that was born “out of boredom,” according to McKenzie.
“We literally were in Ryan’s kitchen one day, and we just, like looked up a recipe and we’re like, ‘let’s make some chocolate chip cookies,’” Andujar said.
The pair posted about their cookies on social media, which led to people asking to buy a batch. From there it was a matter of trying to get the cookies to the hungry public.
“We didn’t go to Walmart, we went to Walmarts. We took like four or five hours to find the right packaging,” McKenzie said.
This was the start of Table. The name is supposed to be reminiscent of Apple’s branding — a simple, single-word brand that people could relate to their product.
“We were thinking like, ‘oh, like Chef’s Table,’” McKenzie said. “And then we just landed on the word table and we’re like, ‘That’s like a simple, but it’s intriguing and I don’t know, I just I love it so much.”
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Table started in September 2020. Cookies remain the signature product of the brand, but the pair have also started venturing into savory items for their pop-ups around Central Florida.
“Our mac and cheese. It’s called macaroni and WAP — WAP stands for white aged parmesan — that’s our most popular savory item,” McKenzie said. “And then we just introduced our garlic chicken at the markets, which is our garlic mashed potatoes with roasted asparagus and pan-seared chicken. It’s awesome.”
The food is front and center, but Andujar has a background in media and brings those skills to the company’s social media platforms, especially its TikTok.
“Originally, we wanted (Table) to be more like media-based and not product-based — and I still want to lean towards that because that’s what I’m interested in,” Andujar said.
The pair have several videos showing off their products, such as their mac and cheese, waffles and seasonal offerings like their THOT chocolate.
Table Ghost Kitchen ships their cookies across the country and you can find them popping up at farmers’ markets and other events around Central Florida.
On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, McKenzie and Andujar talk more about the difficulties and successes of running their own business. They also rhapsodize about their waffles and share how people cannot seem to get the name of their business correct.
Please follow our Florida Foodie hosts on social media. You can find Candace Campos on Twitter and Facebook. Lisa Bell is also on Facebook and Twitter and you can check out her children’s book, “Norman the Watchful Gnome.”
Florida Foodie is a bi-weekly podcast from WKMG and Graham Media that takes a closer look at what we eat, how we eat it and the impact that has on us here in Florida and for everyone, everywhere. Find new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.