by Lisa Queen

www.insidetoronto.com

Sure, you can get a meat lovers' pizza or a chicken dinner with fries and dipping sauce delivered to your front door.
But only Hollywood A-listers can expect star treatment when it comes to having gourmet breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks dropped off at their mansions seven days a week, right?

Wrong.

In fact, what used to be reserved for society's upper crust is quickly turning into one of Canada's fastest-growing lifestyle trends, according to a Toronto company that delivers healthy meals to clients' homes or offices.

"Some predict it will be 'the' weight loss movement to watch in 2009," a press release from Licious Living said.

Licious Living is not the only company providing the service in Toronto. Rose Reisman's Personal Gourmet is another example.

One of Licious Living's owners, Deanna Embury, said the key to the business's success is marrying the desire to eat healthy food with the convenience of home delivery.

"It is a way of staying on track with eating healthy without having to do it yourself," she said.

"It is amazing how much (good) nutrition can raise your energy level. It gives you personal time, too. You're not going to the grocery store twice a week or getting home and reaching for the Kraft Dinner box."

Most people want to eat nutritiously but without convenience, many often find themselves retreating to bad habits, Embury said.

"There aren't a lot of healthy options out there when you're eating on the fly," she said.

From $25 to $37 a day, clients can choose from menus offering selections such as yogurt parfaits or strawberry pancakes for breakfast, chicken salads or roast beef wraps for lunch and ginger pork tenderloin or baked salmon with blueberry crisp or pumpkin mousse cheesecake for dinner.

"We do fresh stuff every single day, They (meals) are prepared that day and dropped of to you that night," said Embury, adding the company caters to individual tastes as well as allergies and portion sizes.

Chef Andrew Rajaratnam and his team prepare the meals in the kitchen of the Crowne Plaza hotel near Eglinton Avenue and the Don Valley Parkway.

"This is all really upscale stuff. We do quality products here. Our guys are trained to do this," Rajaratnam said.

Licious Living attracts two types of clients, according to Embury: there are those who want to eat healthily and those who are aiming to lose weight.

Those looking to shed pounds don't have to feel deprived, she said.

"The meals aren't diety. This (the meals delivered by the company) is the way you eat for life."

Embury was working on a film set in Vancouver in 2003 when she came up with the idea for Licious Living. Actors wanted delivery of nutritious meals, along the lines of the Zone Diet being delivered to Hollywood stars.

The business took off and was introduced to the Toronto market at the end of 2004. The company plans to expand into Calgary this spring.

Licious Living is introducing new initiatives, including this spring's launch of the 5 factor diet, called "the diet that's changing Hollywood," and a grab and go retail store next fall or winter.

For more information, visit www.liciousliving.com.

http://www.insidetoronto.ca/article/64658

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