Puppy parmigiana on the menu as ‘dine with your dog’ meal kits launched

Melbourne foodies have joined forces to make sure four-legged friends and their owners around the country can enjoy matching meal deliveries.

Cheryl Chu with her dog Wilbur enjoying a meal from Dine With Your Dog.

Your four-legged friend can now dine as well as you do, with meal kit producer Atlas Weekly teaming up with pet health company ilume on “Dine with your dog”.

While at first blush the notion might seem barking mad, with pets increasingly treated as an integral part of the family Atlas Weekly founder and award-winning chef Charlie Carrington said it made sense to launch a “hybrid” meal kit.

The limited-time offer, running from August 9-19, pairs a “human” meal of a seared beef salad, chicken parmigiana and a chocolate dessert with, for the pups, a beef jerky salad, a puppy parmigiana and a carob-based dessert.

Mr Carrington said in recent years he’d inadvertently joined the “over-the-top dog parent club’’.

“I treat my two cavoodles like I would my (future) children, which is why I genuinely became an ilume customer after seeing their human-like dog food, and recognising the similarities in values we share,’’ he said.

Charlie Carrington and Craig Silbery from Atlas Weekly and ilume.

Mr Carrington, who also owns and operates Melbourne restaurant Atlas Dining, said he was always keenly interested in innovation in the food space.

“I’ve always seen ilume as ‘best practice’ in the meal kit space - even though it caters for a different audience than ours.

“We like to think we know our Atlas travellers pretty well and know that about one in two of them are dog owners.

“So, creating a special event box they can enjoy with their entire family made sense to us.”

Mr Carrington said the tie-up with ilume made sense.

“As brands, we share a nice synergy,’’ he said.

“We take our craft seriously. We’re driven first by passion, then by profit. We’re both Melbourne-born and Melbourne run. Their food looks good enough for humans to eat. The list goes on.”

The puppy parmigiana from ilume with Atlas Weekly’s chicken parma.

Cheryl Chu, the proud parent of French bulldogs Wilbur and Oliver, said they had a taste for the finer things in life.

“Funnily, my two fur-babies share the same ‘foodie’ passion as me,’’ Ms Chu said.

“Particularly my older pup - Oliver. He obsesses over human food, especially when we’re cooking or take him out to restaurants.

“Like any dog, he can get fussy at times, but has tried all three “Dine with your dog” dishes by ilume and absolutely approves.

“This special occasion meal kit will be all over Instagram this International Dog Day. I can’t wait.”

Dine with your dog is available in Victoria, the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland.

Ten dollars from every purchase will also go towards animal welfare charity, The Lost Dogs’ Home. International Dog Day is August 26.

Dine with your dog is available from the Atlas Weekly website.

Originally published as Puppy parmigiana on the menu as ‘dine with your dog’ meal kits launched