Today we’d like to introduce you to Leigh Ann Stewart.
Hi Leigh Ann, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My name is Leigh Ann Stewart, Owner and operator of Noah’s Nosh. We are a local meal delivery service and caterer. We are based in Burbank and just celebrated our 10th year serving our community and areas throughout Northeast LA.
I cooked professionally and ran kitchens for other chefs for over a decade prior to having my first son (Noah!). Motherhood quickly made me realize 1. That I could never go back to the commercial kitchen life and 2. There was a huge gap in the ways that busy families were being served.
When my son was about a year old and I was bracing to return to a typical kitchen job I was scrolling my local mom’s group on FB and came across a post by another mom who was begging for help with dinners because she had neither the time nor the inclination to cook during the week and the take out habit had become unsustainable. That was in 2015.
I thought, I could do that. I quickly replied and within a few hours there were about 6 other moms replying underneath my comment saying, “Me too!”, “How do I sign up?!”, etc. I had a full roster out of the gate and I haven’t looked back.
Our food is as organic and clean as is possible while keeping things affordable. We also have offered organic Chicken Bone broth since the beginning. I have clients that I have been feeding 4, 5 even 9 years in one case. They’ve become my friends and I consider them family in many cases. I’ve watched them grow their families, I’ve catered their kid’s birthday parties. The bonds I’ve created over the years is really something I never could have dreamt of.
It is a huge blessing and honor to feed families nourishing meals when life is so hectic and help take something off someone’s plate (no pun intended). It’s seems small but especially here in LA where cost of living means usually you need two ft incomes , I know it makes a huge difference to not have to have to worry about what’s for dinner after working all day
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, having already been in the industry for so long working with purveyors and wholesale markets it was pretty seamless to transition to becoming a home chef with very low overhead.
In the early days my mom would come watch the kids on the days I would cook. Now that they’re both in school and getting older my work allows me to both take and pick them up and I’ve recently been able to transition to using a courier service for some of my further client’s deliveries. So it’s really allowed me to have the income I need and still perform a lot of the functions of a stay at home parent. It’s actually pretty remarkable as I’m a single mom now so I know I am very lucky to be able to do that.
The only real struggle I would say we encountered was during the Pandemic. With limits on quantities of product I could purchase I did have to scale way back in the beginning and we were down for a few months altogether but as soon as it felt safe we went right back to business as usual.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m very excited to be able to begin offering a glassware option for our meals this year. Many of our clients have expressed concerns over microplastics, understandably. I’m always happy to find a way to elevate the experience for the client and accommodate them whenever possible. Environmentally and from a health aspect. This was something that seemed really important to everyone.
We also have some big plans for 2026. We’ve been selling our chicken bone broth since the beginning, but will be adding a few more holistic medicinals to our offerings. Things like fire cider which is a traditional folk medicine that is taken during cold and flu season to boost immunity and will kick a cold right out of you as well as an all natural sore throat and cough syrup and a few other things that are in testing at the moment.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I’m pretty old school and not that tech savvy. I probably should take the dive into some automation at some point, so happy for any recommendations, honestly!! 😆
I would say the app I couldn’t live without is the NYT cooking app for organizing recipes and general inspiration. And keeping up on what’s trending. For blogs and websites I love the Recipe Tin Eats and Kenji Alt-Lopez’s blog, Serious Eats. If I need guidance while working out a recipe those usually are my go-to sites
Pricing:
- Cost of groceries
- Hourly fee for shopping, cooking , delivery
- $25/hr is the current hourly fee
- $10 added delivery fee anything 6 miles outside of central Burbank
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @NoahsNoshla
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noahsnosh
