Michael Kelley and his wife, Brooke, have each had upwards of 15 years experience in the culinary industry, so running a shared kitchen space was a natural progression for both of them. Brooke has a background in patisserie. Michael worked as a traveling chef for a bit, conducting pop-up dinners in various cities. During his travels, he rented out a great deal of commissary and co-working kitchen spaces, and noted all of the elements that he would change if they were his own. After the pop-up dinner group folded, Michael and Brooke began looking for shared kitchen spaces in the Dallas area. They noticed a lack of available facilities and decided to do something about it.
From the very start, Michael and Brooke have wanted their kitchen to be a space for clients to feel comfortable developing their businesses. They recognize that the Dallas area has many entrepreneurs who are quickly growing and need a space to take their business to the next level. Culinary Community Kitchen has created space for all food businesses whether they’re looking for a new production facility for their already burgeoning food enterprise, or to simply sharpen their cooking skills. In addition to shared kitchen space, CCK offers incubator services and a demo space fit for public cooking classes.
Looking Ahead…
Culinary Community Kitchen is set to open its doors on July 8, 2022. “It’s still the ‘honeymoon phase’ for us and this space,” Michael claims. Michael and Brooke are currently working on developing a large community garden space located at the front of their building. They hope that this will become a cornerstone of their community interactions. They also plan to host seminars and Q&As from knowledgeable people in the area on all topics of food and food business. Michael is proud to have included elements in Culinary Community Kitchen that he had always wished for back when he was renting commercial kitchen space.
Words of advice from Culinary Community Kitchen…
“Slow down, make a checklist and mark one thing off at a time when you feel overwhelmed. It’s a balancing act and if you load up too fast it just gets harder.”
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