22 | COVER |
UBJ
THE RESTAURANT ISSUE
|
11.27.2015
‘Kitchen communes’ A community of chefs finds a home in the Upstate’s prep kitchens LAURA HAIGHT | CONTRIBUTOR
Clad in chef whites, Adam Strum gathers up produce and containers. He’s spent the better part of the day turning fresh, locally farmed ingredients into a paleo chili. Before he heads out, he’ll mop and sanitize the floors, clean the sinks and remove all the traces of his afternoon’s work. Strum is one of a growing number of culinary entrepreneurs who hone their craft, test new recipes and build their followings using commercial prep kitchens. As the culinary arts expand beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant to food trucks, fresh markets, and pop-up shops, chefs need a licensed and fully equipped place to cook. But it’s not just food that’s cooking in these shared-use kitchens – they are an incubator for ideas and a community for cooks. Chef Adam Strum at work in Naked Kitchen.
Photos by William Crooks
COOKING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS Naked Kitchen at 1286 Pendleton Ave. in Greenville, run by Ed Creighton and his wife Julie Jenkins, and the Old Mill Cafe and Catering at 518 Conestee Ave., in Mauldin, owned by Vaughn Ownbey, are two shared-use facilities in the Upstate. To sell wholesale to supermarkets or other distributors, products must be prepared in a commercial-grade kitchen that is licensed and regularly inspected by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). The kitchens are equipped with restaurant-grade appliances, high-end air handling and cleaning systems, stainless steel prep surfaces and some storage for individual clients. If a client needs a specialty appliance, they’re expected to bring it with them each time they cook. The image of home cooks whipping up cupcakes, painstakingly wrapping them up in colorful boxes >>