Sunday, 05 February 2012

• The Secret Cookie Service

  This is a guest post from Kirbie's Cravings.
  

  I have a fun post for you today.

  

  Have you heard of the Secret Cookie Guy? If you attend or work at UCSD, live in La Jolla, or watched this Fox 5 feature, you may have heard of him.

  
  
  The Secret Cookie Service delivers fresh baked homemade cookies to your door.  But it’s not your average delivery. The delivery agent meets you dressed in shades and a suit, and delivers cookies packaged in a “Top Secret” labeled bag. This fairly new late night delivery service has developed quite a following in a very short time. The Facebook page has more than 2,000 likes, they’ve been featured in La Jolla Light, and on Fox 5.
  
  There’s quite a few things that make this delivery service special. First, cookie prices are quite a bargain. They charge $5 for 4 cookies and currently offer 17 different flavors. Delivery charge is an additional $1 for around La Jolla. (They recently started expanding beyond La Jolla, details at end of post.)

  Second, they delivery late into the night, from 7pm to 2am Sunday-Thursday and 9pm to 3am on Saturday. (Day deliveries for outside La Jolla and catering available as well.) You can text in your order any time during the day or during the delivery hours to have fresh cookies delivered to your door.

  And of course, there’s the CIA-esque mystery surrounding the company. The creator, known as The Secret Cookie Guy, wishes to remain anonymous and never removes his shades when meeting with customers or being interviewed. Recipes, location, and information about the business are kept very top secret.

  
  
  Here’s a few things I did learn during my cookie drop-off. The creator is a former UCSD graduate student who was in the PH.D chemistry program.  He decided to leave the program, finishing with a Masters. He then came up with the idea for a cookie service, starting with his mom’s famous chocolate chip cookie recipe which his family had always encouraged she start a business with.

  

  His initial target audience were UCSD students, a genius idea since there is nothing college students crave more than food from the outside world. But he didn’t just stop there. He also made it a late night delivery service, something that’s almost impossible to find.

  
  
  But to make it even more interesting, he decided to make his company CIA-esque, with the cookies being delivered by agents in dark glasses and suits, cookies packaged in Top Secret bags. The mystery surrounding his operation has only made him even more popular. Customers buy his Secret Cookie Service sunglasses, dress up like him, and almost always ask to take pictures with him.

  While meeting with him, I was impressed with his ideas and organization. He has a customer loyalty program through punch cards. If you “like” the company on Facebook, you get two free cookies. Different deals are offered nightly on his Facebook page.

  
  
  During my interview, I couldn’t help but notice the Secret Cookie Guy’s svelte frame. How many cookies did he eat on average? He laughed and stated he usually only eats about one a day, maybe a few more if he is testing new recipes, but he thinks 1 or 2 is more than enough cookies and rhetorically stated, who eats more than that? He then proceeded to hand me my fourteen cookies…

  So how are the cookies? I sampled seven of the most popular cookies ordered, receiving two of each. And for the sake of “research” of course I had to eat at least one of each flavor.

  
  
  In general, all the cookies had a soft and chewy texture, with the exception of the pumpkin which was a more cakey cookie. I was impressed that The Secret Cookie Guy managed to maintain the same style and texture for each of his cookies with each of the different flavors. Size-wise, these cookies were perfect. Not too big and not too small. They were the ideal size for you to eat one cookie and feel satisfied. (Unless you have a serious sweet tooth like me, and then you may need a few more.)

  While I enjoyed each and every cookie I ate, my favorites were the original chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin.
  

  Chocolate Chip
  

  Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip
  
  

  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

  
  

  Chocolate Chocolate Chip

  
  

  M&M

  
  

  Oatmeal Raisin

  
  

  Mint Chocolate Chip

  
  
  Would I order these cookies again? Definitely yes. They might not have the complexity as some of the cookie recipes I’ve tried on the blog, but I enjoyed these homemade chewy cookies. In fact, I was tempted to order more this entire week before being stopped by the FH. I have a serious weakness for cookies, especially at night. This cookie service is one dangerous discovery.

  So, how can you experience The Secret Cookie Service? As I previously mentioned, late night delivery is mainly in the La Jolla/UTC area. However, day deliveries, catering, and delivery outside of the La Jolla area are available as well with a little more advanced notice. Here are the details:

  Sun – Thurs from 7 pm – 2 am and Saturdays 9 pm – 3 am we deliver cookies within  approximately 30 mins to 1 hour anywhere on UCSD’s campus or in the La Jolla / UTC area, going as far as the La Jolla Cove / Wind and Sea region or as far south as Governor in UTC. However, we are now expanding into day deliveries, where we are excited to deliver as far north as Encinitas and as far south as downtown San Diego. For these deliveries outside of La Jolla, we do charge a gas surcharge and simply ask customers to order at least a day or more in advance and we will work out a delivery time with them. We want to sell to as many customers as possible and are willing to reasonably work with anyone as long as they want cookies.

  
  

  To order cookies in the La Jolla area, you can schedule an order ahead of time before 7pm or call between 7pm-2am for immediate delivery within 30 mins – 1 hr.
  
  Here’s how to order:
  
  

  1) Each day at 7pm or 9pm Saturdays, we post on our Facebook Fan Page what 5 or 6 cookie varieties we’re selling for the night (chocolate chip is every night). We also post Top Secret Deals each night.

  2) Call or text 727-487-2782 with the following info:

     - How many cookies (Must be in multiples of 2)

     - The Drop Point (Delivery address and time if it’s for a birthday or special event)

     - Your contact number

  3) You will receive a text or call in 5 – 10 mins with your CETA (Cookie Estimated Time of Arrival).

  *We do offer gift delivery and can readily take any major credit card over the phone.

  **We also offer milk cartons for $1.50 (1%, vanilla, or chocolate).

  ***For day deliveries, please call a day or more in advance.

  ****For catering events, please obviously call in advance.
  
  

  

  Disclosure: I did not pay for the cookies I sampled. Though this was the first time I met him, The Secret Cookie Guy and I share a mutual friend. After seeing his feature on Fox 5 news, I found the video fun and amusing and thought this would be something interesting to share on my blog and as a result, I reached out to him for this interview.

  
  

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