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Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseMar 13, 2015 | 13 comments

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Box

Mantry is a subscription box that describes itself as “the modern man’s pantry.” Each month they ship gourmet food items in their signature wooden crate.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Crate

Mantry sent us this box to review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Inside

The Subscription Box: Mantry

The Cost: $75

The Products: Artisan foods for the modern man’s pantry.

Ships to: US only.

Check out all of our Mantry reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory!

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Card

This month’s theme is Pizza Party.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Fold Out 1

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Fold Out 2

Each box comes with a fold out card detailing each of the producers behind the food included and where they come from.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Flour

Hayden Flour Mills Pizza Flour- 1.5 lb, value $9.50

This stone-ground flour hails from Phoenix, Arizona. The blend of Hard Red Spring and White Sonora flours makes for a smooth texture and crispy crust.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 PEsto

The Gracious Gourmet Lemon Artichoke Pesto- 7 oz, value $10

Jar Goods Classic Red Tomato Sauce- 16 oz, value $8 

Jar Goods Classic Red Tomato Sauce can be used on pizza, pasta, or as a base for chili or stew. It’s made in small batches with simple, fresh ingredients and is derived from the recipe used at famed Jersey City Italian restaurant, “Jule’s.”

This month’s box was supposed to include Genovese Pesto from Scarpetta; however, the shipment didn’t arrive in time and Mantry had to substitute a different product. To inform customers about this swap, Mantry included the following card:

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Substitution

It’s always a little disappointing when this happens, but I think Mantry handled this hiccup in a positive, professional way. And, as a result, I was actually excited about the last minute substitution! According to the card, this pesto won the 1st place Sofi Award (like the Oscars for food) for Outstanding Pesto in 2011.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Meats

Vermont Smoke and Cure Smoked Pepperoni- 7 oz, value $7

Del Duca Prosciutto- 3 oz, value $5

Vermont Smoke and Cure Smoked Pepperoni is made with locally raised pork and fresh herbs. It’s then smoked over corncob and maple wood. Smoking the pepperoni results in a less oily product, and the smoky flavor mellows the spiciness of the meat.

This prosciutto is made in Rhode Island from dry-cured American ham. To help preserve its mellow flavors, Mantry recommends adding it to pizza after baking.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Cookies

Grey Ghost Bakery Lemon Sugar Cookies - 8 oz, value $9

A few of the cookies in my pack arrived broken, but, luckily, most of them were just fine. Grey Ghost Bakery is based in Charleston, SC, and I’ve sampled some of their other products thanks to subscription boxes. These particular cookies are made with candied lemon zest and topped with pearlized sugar.

Faced with so many incredible ingredients, I was hit with an overwhelming pizza craving. Without delay, the hubby and I promptly cleared our schedules for a pizza night. Since the recipe for Hayden Flour Mills Heritage Pizza Crust recommended proofing the crust for an entire day, we made the dough the day before we planned to bake our pizza.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Doug

When it was time to make our pies, we couldn’t agree on toppings (isn’t that always the way it goes!?!) so we decided to make two smaller pizzas instead of a larger one. I decided to make the Prosciutto, Pesto, & Arugula Pizza and my husband wanted the Smoked Pepperoni & Basil Pizza. So we rolled out the dough and assembled our selected toppings.

Here’s the unbaked pepperoni pizza.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Raw Pepperoni

And here’s the unbaked prosciutto pizza. (Note that for this recipe, most of the toppings are added after the pizza is baked.)

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Raw Prosciutto

They each baked for about 14 minutes at 475 degrees.  (The recipe called for the oven to be set at 400, but I know my oven and that isn’t hot enough for pizza.)

The pizzas baked up beautifully.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Baked Pepperoni

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Baked Prosciutto

To finish off the prosciutto pizza, I needed to add my toppings. I’d set them aside earlier, so they were ready to go.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Toppings

I added dollops of pesto, ripped two slices of prosciutto over the top, and topped it all with the roughly chopped arugula.

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Finished Proscituuo

Both of the pizzas were excellent. The crust was a little breadier and less chewy than I’m used to, but the flavor was great. All of the toppings Mantry provided were delicious. In particular, the red pizza sauce, prosciutto, and pepperoni were standouts! The smoked pepperoni was delicious and added a really nice smoky flavor that complemented the full-bodied red sauce. I also really liked the lemon pesto. I thought it added a nice brightness that cut through the richness of the cheese and prosciutto.

To finish the meal, we followed Mantry’s recommendation to turn the Grey Ghost Bakery Lemon Sugar Cookies into Lemon Cookie Sorbet Sandwiches. (Which really just entailed adding some raspberry sorbet.)

Mantry Subscription Box Review & Coupon – February 2015 Dessert

The cookies were crispy and chewy, and I loved the addition of candied lemon peel. They were so good with the tart sorbet!

Verdict: I really enjoyed this box, and I thought the curation was excellent. The products included were all delicious and of very high quality, and I was inspired to make some really amazing pizza. I also liked how Mantry provided easy and delicious recipes that incorporated the ingredients in the box. I thought the recipes were terrific and very easy to make. All that being said, this box has a value of about $50 (only 2/3 the cost of the box). It’s not unusual with Mantry for the value of the items to fall short of the cost of the box, so I think this subscription is best for those who highly value curation, presentation, and packaging.

What do you think of the February 2015 Mantry box? Did you have your own pizza party?

Lindsey Morse
Lindsey Morse

Lindsey is a professional baker, cold brew coffee addict, and rosé aficionado who loves writing about food and wine. When she’s not sharing her love of subscription boxes with the world, you’ll find her in the podcasting studio, perfecting her cake decorating techniques, or cursing her way through the New York Times daily crossword puzzle. 


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13 comments

Sherita

This looks amazing! Considering getting this box.

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Tink

I’ve subscribed in the past, and was considering renewing, glad I waited. While I love the idea, curation, and well put together theme of the box, I’m gluten free & don’t eat pork/beef, so this would have been a total miss for me. I’d love if Mantry, Hampton Lane, and some of the other boxes would curate a gluten free version. I’d be happy to spend a little more to get food I can eat!

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Trinity

I agree. This box fascinates me but I can’t eat anything in it. Looks like a great box for a general foodie. I even love that wooden box.

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Angela

Thank you for doing so many reviews on culinary boxes. I make NY style pizza from scratch, and it’s a pain, but I use all organic ingredients, and it’s still so much cheaper than this. I get that it’s nice to get great ingredients that a person doesn’t have access to in their area, but Mantry is ca-ray-zee if they charge that much and give their subscribers not even close to the cost of the box! Especially with food items, which you know if you cook often and with quality ingredients, artisan foods from Whole Foods can be found for less. I loved, loved, loved the Hamptons Lane box and the recipes you made from there made me want to finally try truffle oil (I always see chefs use it on the show Chopped too), but I felt you get more for your money with Hamptons Lane, so it’s worth the cost to me. I’ll keep reading your reviews Lindsey, because they are really helping me decide what food boxes are worth it, and which ones aren’t 🙂

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Lily

Thanks for making the recipes and testing them out. It really helps give me a better feel for the value of the subscription to see it cooked out!

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nicolle

Your reviews are always so awesome! You make everything look amazing.

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chris

Great review, thanks! If you have time could you give us the actual measurements of the crate itself? I’m curious how big that box is. 🙂

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Lindsey

No problem, Chris! The crate measures approximately 8″ x 10.5″ x 5.5″. 🙂

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chris

Awesome, thanks!

Courtney

I almost subscribed this Mantry this month but changed my mind after reading some not so good reviews. Once my 6 month sub to Batch USA finishes up (They’re doing a Tour of Texas, so I couldn’t resist), I might give Mantry another consider. This one looked so good! Great review!

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AJ

Really enjoyed reading this review (especially the part about how you used/baked the stuff!).

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bunnygirlbrem

I agree. Love the pics of the pizzas at various stages. Always enjoy your reviews!

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bunnygirlbrem

Those look really good, but when you add your own cheese, spinach, and sorbet, those pizzas and cookies are close to $85!

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