By Carrie Vittitoe
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| (L-R) Sherry Miller of Mama’s; Kortney Warfield of U-Chews; Lucretia Thompson of Lucretia’s Kitchen; Viviana Dias Ferreira of Revolution Confections; Andrea Wells of Wells Made Co.; and Vy Howard of Syndesi. Photos by Melissa Donald |
At its core, Chef Space is a 13,000-square-foot licensed commercial kitchen, but it is really much more. Community Ventures launched Chef Space in November 2015 to serve a multi-pronged mission in West Louisville.
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| Lucretia’s Kitchen |
Jessica Morgan, director of marketing and public relations for Community Ventures, says Chef Space provides technical assistance to entry-level food entrepreneurs, providing them access to a commercial kitchen and all the gadgets and appliances they may need. This kitchen access ultimately helps them grow their revenue so they can move into their own space.
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| Syndesi |
With 25-30 small businesses operating out of Chef Space, it is an incubator for new talent, but it draws on the experience of its partners. Texas Roadhouse, for example, is a community partner that is using Chef Space as a training kitchen. Jessica says one of the benefits of experienced food companies coming into the facility is “sharing best practices to improve the service model.”
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| U-Chews |
Jessica has numerous leads every week from chefs interested in a membership to Chef Space, either on a full-time basis, which gives them 24/7 access to the kitchen, or on a part-time basis, which allows them to schedule time in the kitchen to create. Whether an individual is an up-and-coming entrepreneur or a hobbyist chef, Chef Space provides space and an opportunity for creativity and dreams to flourish.
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| Mama’s |
The big winners, though, are community members who like to eat and drink. Chef Space has helped a number of entrepreneurs develop distribution networks so that consumers can purchase the items at local stores or via food trucks.
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| Wells Made Co. |
