Same kitchen. Same people. Fewer shortcuts than ever.
Making Thyme Kitchen has been answering the same question since 2005: what’s for dinner? We’re still cooking the way we always have. We’ve just made it easier to get it home.
Scratch, all the way down.
Scratch is a word that gets used loosely. Here is what it means in our kitchen, specifically.
Whole carrots
We buy them whole and peel them ourselves. Same with most of our vegetables. Nothing arrives pre-cut, pre-cooked or pre-portioned.
Dressings from scratch
Made here with fresh herbs, extra virgin olive oil and real lemon juice. No emulsifiers, no gums, no shelf-stabilizers.
Cheese off the block
We shred it ourselves. Pre-shredded cheese comes coated in starches and anti-caking agents, so we buy blocks instead.
Our own stocks
Stocks and sauces are built from whole ingredients over hours. They are the base of nearly everything we make.
100+ things we leave out
Our products don’t contain more than a hundred common preservatives, chemical additives and stabilizers. Read a label of ours and you will recognize every word.
We’re about 90% of the way out of seed oils.
We’ve been steadily pulling seed oils out of our recipes, and we’re most of the way there. A few items still use them while we work out replacements that don’t compromise the dish. We’d rather tell you where we actually are than round up.
Michigan first, whenever we can.
We buy local and organically grown ingredients wherever it’s possible, and we pay close attention to where the rest comes from. Not every ingredient can be sourced in Michigan, but a lot more can than most people assume.
Quality and heritage matter to us as much as the label on the box. We want to know how something was grown, who grew it, and whether it was handled well on the way here. That is harder than picking from a catalog, and it shows up in the food.
Modernizing everything except the food.
Making Thyme Kitchen changed hands in January 2026, when founders Karen and Ken retired and Kelly Smallegan-Maas took over. The recipes, the standards and the people stayed exactly where they were.
What’s changing is the machinery around the food. Ordering is getting easier. Delivery is getting smoother. The technology behind the scenes is finally catching up to the kitchen. And we’re adding dishes, some trend-driven, some just plain good, alongside the ones people have ordered for years.
The same driver, every week.
We don’t hand your order to a rotating cast of strangers with an app. You get the same driver, week after week, someone who learns your name, your street, where you like the bag left, and which family member is actually eating the food.
Where to leave it, when you’re home, what your household actually eats.
Nothing sits. Your order is made for the Wednesday it goes out.
For a lot of our customers, especially those ordering for a parent, that familiar face matters as much as the food.
One bag of trash a day.
Almost everything we throw out gets composted or recycled. What’s left over fits in one small bag.
Every scrap of organic waste is composted. Carrot peels, trimmings, coffee grounds, none of it goes to the landfill.
Composting and recycling handle nearly everything, so what actually reaches the landfill is one small bag a day.
Packaging, boxes and containers are separated and recycled. Our own packaging is chosen so you can do the same at home.
It takes sorting, space and a staff who does it right every shift, even on the busy ones. It would be easier not to. We think it’s worth the trouble.
Stop in, call, or send a note.
The kitchen and store are on Eastern Avenue in Alger Heights. The deli case is stocked with entrées and sides all week.
Kitchen & store
2409 Eastern Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49507
Get directions
Hours
Monday to Friday
10am – 6pm
Closed Saturday & Sunday
Get in touch
Also find us at Harvest Health Foods — Eastern, Cascade, Hudsonville and Holland.
