With consumers’ purse strings tightened by the recession, we’ve seen the emergence of a variety of alternatives to the full-service restaurant. Cooking classes, semi-cooking options, home-cooked meals for hire and a roaming “anti-restaurant” are among the offerings we’ve spotted, and now—enabling all such initiatives and more—comes the commercial kitchen for hire. Philly Kitchen Share is a shared-use commercial kitchen available for hourly rental by caterers, personal chefs, bakers and other food professionals in the Philadelphia area. Created by the founders of PhillyCarShare, the 800-square-foot cooking space actually features two adjoining kitchens, for rent separately or together: one focused on traditional cooking or catering and the other on baking. Together, they’re equipped with stainless steel work tables, convection and standard ovens, commercial ranges and a variety of other tools. Rental prices are USD 39 per hour for one kitchen during off-peak hours, or USD 44 per hour during peak times. Since its launch last winter, business at Philly Kitchen Share has been steady, Philly.com reported, with renters including cooking classes, a vegan baker, a mobile cupcake vendor and a personal chef and caterer. Indeed, it’s not hard to imagine that the availability of a shared kitchen could indirectly launch a multitude of small-scale food business startups, offering as it does a commercial facility on an as-needed basis with no overhead. Time to foster some new cooking innovation among the would-be chefs and food minipreneurs in your neck of the global kitchen…? (Related: Open restaurant night showcases aspiring chefs.) Spotted by: Jim Stewart

16th December 2009

Email: phillykitchenshare@gmail.com

Website: www.phillykitchenshare.com