2-6-19

Armed with curiosity and questions jotted down in my iphone notes, I am ready and anxious for my 1 o’clock appointment at the local incubator kitchen.

I walk in to the office entrance, greeted by Jackie, the lady that had set up my appointment and this little guy!

I get nervous meeting any new people, but the doggo kisses from this little dude helped ease the nerves. I don’t remember the dog’s name, so we’ll just call him “doggo” for now.

“He loves people and loves to be pet,” Jackie told me while she was asking the doggo to stop jumping on me.

“I love dogs,” I told her, giving the doggo endless pets. I can tell he really wanted to be held. I normally don’t touch or pick up strangers’ dogs, but this dog was really asking for it. So there I was, telling Jackie who I am and why I was there while holding someone else’s dog like he was mine lol.

Hey, starting any journey with doggo kisses is a good sign and a great start to anything, #amiright ?

Shortly after the doggo meet and greet, I was introduced to the owner, Marjan, who took the time out of what she was doing to show me around. I was given a hairnet and entered through the office door into the kitchen.  

One of my biggest concerns was encountering a cramped and chaotic kitchen situation. That would be a nightmare. The whole appeal of what started with a home baking business concept was going to be that I’d have the peace and quiet, and more importantly, SPACE to dabble in all my creations without 20 other people running around and  getting in my way. I had no idea what to expect, walking into a shared kitchen. 

The first kitchen that I was shown was unoccupied. Being able to cook/bake alone, having all that space to myself was looking heavenly. I think this level of kitchen space and isolation can only truly be appreciated by someone that has worked in a similar sized space but while never having space! Imagine sharing the oven with ten others, when some of you need things cooked at different temperatures or during the times when oven doors should not be opened. Like if you had macarons baking at a lower temperature and someone decided that they needed to cook up some this or that and raised the temperature way too hot for your delicates, and without telling you. Imagine not being able to pass through the aisles without having to squeeze through bodies (while some perverts seem to enjoy this too much). Imagine not having #fuckingservers barking at you to whip up something “on the fly” because they forgot to ring it in, while you have this on the stove, that in the oven, that other thing in the mixer, and ten other orders on the board, while someone had just changed the oven temperature again. Imagine there being no space on the prep station and there’s no option but to share a cutting board. If you need to cut strawberries for your pie, you gotta share the green cutting board with someone say, segmenting oranges, working as far apart so that the juices don’t mix. There would be none of that BS (that I’ve had my share of experiencing in restaurant kitchens) here, from what I could see.

The tour continued, as we chatted and got my questions answered. Some of the questions included:

Which address to use?

For mailing address, I use my home address. But since all the food preparation is done at the incubator kitchen, I list that address on the forms.

Would using an incubator kitchen still be categorized as a CFO?

No. I had originally begun my research process with the idea of starting a Cottage Food business, doing everything at home. With using an incubator kitchen, I’d be doing the only the food preparation there. Everything else would be done and run at home (paperwork, bookkeeping, label printing, etc.) So it was a bit puzzling, as I was still learning about CFO’s. But yeah, using an incubator kitchen would not fall under the CFO category.  When I think back on this question, now it’s kind of obvious, but I had to make sure.

The steps and paperwork required

I put together a list of the steps/costs to get started (may vary by local and state).

How to go about when you want to add new products each time?

I guess this applies more to CFO’s. On the CFO application, there is a section where the items (with ingredients) need to be list. I heard that with each additional item you want to add, you’ll need to register (and pay) for it. This is one reason why I opted to go with an incubator kitchen. I want to experiment and have more flexibility, especially in the beginning.

Local vendors

Ingardia Brothers

Sysco

Chefs Warehouse

Restaurant Depot

Capital Food

She showed me the walk-ins, the dry storage, the break room, and then we entered another kitchen. This one was way bigger and was occupied. But still, SPACE!!

I saw a few people assembling macarons by the bulk. They all looked so dainty and pretty. Nobody spoke lol. They all seemed to be in their own zone. I imagined the bulk produced was for wholesale sells (just guessing).

Here’s what the breakdown of the rates look like…

Starting any new venture is exciting, daunting, and filled with hopes and curiosity. I’m curious to see where this goes.