What You Need To Know About Wellingtons From Shark Tank

It was bound to happen. "Shark Tank" has featured everything from "healthy" cookie dough to pizza cupcakes, so it doesn't seem at all beyond the pale for an upstart company that makes Wellingtons — a riff on the classic English dish known as beef Wellington — to be featured on the show. Wellingtons isn't the first company to offer a mail-order version of this dish, as Omaha Steaks and Williams-Sonoma will ship their versions to your door. What sets Wellingtons apart is that it offers multiple versions of the dish. In addition to the traditional beef Wellington, which is generally made from a whole or sliced beef tenderloin that's coated, wrapped in cured ham and puff pastry, and then baked, the company makes new takes like breakfast and cheeseburger Wellingtons.

Wellingtons was founded in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic by Arya Alexander and Anastasia Geroulis, who found themselves searching for interesting foods they could make to break up the quarantine tedium. Though they began with a classic beef Wellington, they quickly branched out to more innovative combinations they would prepare on what they called "Wellington Wednesdays." After testing out their creations on family and friends, the couple launched their brand. Today, Wellingtons' products are produced in a commercial kitchen in L.A. and available through myriad national and local shipping services.

Beef Wellington is one of the grand dishes of haute cuisine that is meant to be a showstopper. The golden crust gives way to tender, medium-rare beef swathed in rich, flavorful ingredients. It is also no secret that beef Wellington is one of the more complex dishes to assemble, though services like Wellingtons can help there. Wellingtons offers classic beef Wellington with Dijon mustard and a mushroom-shallot duxelle sandwiched between the beef and the puff pastry exterior. It can be had in a variety of portion sizes, with the option to get Savage Sauce (Wellingtons' take on Thousand Island dressing), truffle horseradish sauce, or Buffalo sauce.

From there, things get a bit more wild. The cheeseburger Wellington is just as the name implies: two burger patties, an ample amount of cheddar cheese, and grilled onions and jalapeños (which can be left off by request), all wrapped in puff pastry. You can customize this single-serving Wellington with the same sauces as above. Wellingtons also offers smaller cheeseburger Wellington "bites" in packs of 15.

If you're more of a morning person, then the breakfast Wellington may be more your speed. This single-serve item comes stuffed with turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, cheese, and hashbrowns. If that wasn't enough, the final product is sprinkled in everything-but-the-bagel seasoning. Dessert fans can also rejoice, as Wellingtons offers a pastry cream and Nutella-stuffed version called the "Nutellington."

Arya and Anastasia found inspiration for the Wellington adventure in a rather familiar source: chef Gordon Ramsay. The famously mercurial celebrity chef is also famous for his take on beef Wellington. The couple were heartened by how satisfying and relatively simple he made the dish look to prepare, so they decided to give it a try. However, Ramsay does have the benefit of years of experience and the magic of TV editing. Arya and Anastasia, on the other hand, had a bit more trouble getting their beef Wellington together, but ultimately persevered with enjoyable results.

Cut to today and Wellingtons offers its wide array of what it affectionately calls "Wellys" directly on its website, as well as through major food shipping services that include Goldbelly nationally and UberEast in L.A. The former even offers a "Date Night" package that includes a classic beef Wellington, truffle horseradish sauce, and two Nutellingtons for dessert

While it is unclear what Anastasia might do other than run Wellingtons — as if that weren't enough — it does appear that Arya is a bit of a serial entrepreneur. In addition to Wellingtons, he has co-founded UnHide, a faux fur lifestyle brand, and valet app CurbStand, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Wellingtons has been selling to the public for a while, so you can imagine that there are plenty of reviews available. As you might imagine, reviews on the company webiste are glowingly positive. Purchasers raved about the classic beef Wellington's pastry exterior and its mushroom and Dijon filling. Of the cheeseburger Wellington, many praised the taste and easy-to-follow instructions. One wrote that the Nutellington tasted "like all my favorite desserts baked in a single one."

The reviews on Yelp are more mixed. A lengthy, five-star write-up praises the flavor of the Wellington and its truffle horseradish sauce that they received after ordering through Goldbelly. They even note that a small thermometer was included to ensure proper cooking of the meat. Two other reviews, each one star, are less charitable. One person claims that, while they ordered three items, only one came in their package and the company hasn't responded to requests to correct the situation. The other reviewer claims their orders have been canceled multiple times due to production issues. However, they ordered through Goldbelly, which may have been the source of the problem.

Things seemed promising when Arya and Anastasia pulled a perfectly cooked full-sized beef Wellington from the "Shark Tank" oven. The assembled Sharks — Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and guest shark Michael Rubin, CEO of Fanatics — dug into their own "Wellys." Rubin voiced the panel's consensus that the Wellington was "really good." 

Getting into the meat of it — pun intended — the sharks wanted to know if Wellingtons intended to move away from Goldbelly, which Arya affirmed was the goal. O'Leary agreed with the tack after hearing about the previous year's sales vs. losses, noting that without a direct-to-consumer shift, they never stood to chance of making a profit. But, as a purveyor of sous-vide meats via his QVC "Chef Wonderful" line, O'Leary explained that he is a competitor and declared himself out. 

Despite his positive review, Rubin also declined. He cited the young nature of the business and echoed O'Leary's sentiment that direct-to-consumer sales are required. Cuban praised the couple's product but considered it difficult to ship. He advised finding new sales routes but was ultimately out. Greiner, citing her lack of passion for meat, bowed out next. Final shark Corcoran, having suffered her own ups and downs in the food business, said she couldn't offer Wellingtons what it was seeking. Despite tasting defeat, the company capitalized on the episode, advertising a $150 Shark Tank Combo Pack on its website that features three kinds of Wellington (cheeseburger, breakfast, and personal) along with sauces and Welly Bites.