LifeChef Meals Focus on Food as Medicine

A Manayunk chef pivots to provide medicinal support through food.

As an executive chef, Manayunk’s Michael Suminski spent time in restaurants of all shapes and sizes in and around Philadelphia, always with the goal of finding his own place. That finally became a reality in 2017, when he opened James Restaurant & Bar near the Comcast Technology Center. It would’ve been a prime spot from the get-go if it weren’t for the center’s delayed opening. “We finally started to turn the corner to profitability and, lo and behold, March 20, 2020,” says Suminski.

The sudden jolt of the pandemic eventually led to James’ closure. “I sat home for 18 months,” Suminski recalls.

And during that time, he struggled with his weight. “I realized I was missing was nutrition,” says Suminski.

- Advertisement -

He sought help from his son, Kai, an athlete at Germantown Friends School who got heavily involved with nutrition and fitness after a freshman-year alopecia diagnosis. Kai helped his father shed 70 pounds, and a thinner, healthier Suminski shifted from restaurants to LifeChef. The meal delivery service was founded in 2021 to provide healthy pre-cooked meals for busy professionals. “By 2022, we’d transitioned to focusing on medically tailored meals for management of chronic health conditions like obesity, diabetes and heart health,” says founding partner Michael Korsky.

As the brand’s culinary director, Suminski now focuses on food as medicine for those suffering from chronic illnesses. He’s part of a team that also includes dietician Amy Laessig and Dr. Val Koganski, a specialist in longevity medicine and functional medicine. The goal is lower numbers across the board, from blood sugar and cholesterol to blood pressure and BMI. “We have the ability to intake patients—not customers—and give them dietary consultation, set up what they need, help them with monitoring along the way, and give them support,” says Suminski.

The hope is also to reduce hospital readmissions. “When patients get released, maybe they’re given a meal plan or some suggestions, but they don’t necessarily have that support system or food waiting for them when they get home,” Suminski says. “We have the ability to give them everything they need to adhere to these programs and see success.”

Suminski spends his days developing recipes in LifeChef’s Trenton, New Jersey, test kitchen. All ingredients are fresh, and fish and meats are cut in house.

“LifeChef was initially founded in 2021 to provide healthy pre-cooked meals for busy professionals. “By 2022, we’d transitioned to focusing on medically tailored meals for management of chronic health conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart health,” says founding partner Michael Korsky.

“In a restaurant setting, you can make almost anything taste good if you put enough fat, sugar and salt into it,” Suminski says. “We’ve come up with interesting ways to make things and coax the flavor out of all-natural ingredients.”

Visit lifechef.com.

Our Best of the Main Line Nomination Ballot is open through January 8!