Hub Kitchen opened for business in July, but you probably didn’t notice.
The location at 7225 W. North Ave. in River Forest (formerly La Parrillita Mexican Grill and, for you real old-timers, Gossage Grill) is a rental commercial kitchen and culinary incubator. As such it operates behind the scenes to nurture future food enterprises.
Owners Misty and Dan Olson saw a gap in the market after River Forest Kitchen, which housed Schoolhouse Kitchen and other clients, changed over to housing a single tenant. That kitchen launched several now well-known local businesses, such as The Daly Bagel.
The Olsons were also tenants at River Forest Kitchen with their son, Alec, who runs Spoke Cafe, a mobile coffee cart. They all needed somewhere to go.
“We felt there was a big need for this in the community,” Misty Olson said. “We are not chefs, but we love start-ups with entrepreneurial endeavors.”
The Olsons wanted to open their new kitchen in River Forest because, like them, most of the other tenants already had River Forest business licenses. It was a challenge, they said, as River Forest isn’t a hotbed of commercial space and certainly not available kitchen space.
Now, after months of construction and inspections, things are cooking.
One tenant of Hub Kitchen is Su Jang and her business New Rose Catering, which prepares weekly dinner delivery to households and caters events for up to 200 people. The process of building out the new kitchen has been collaborative with the Olsons.
“We talked with them a lot. They really listened to us,” Jang said.
As the doors unlocked, that spirit of partnership continued.
“Saturday was our very first time in and they said let us know how the day went.” Jang had a few suggestions and needs. “And by Sunday morning, they had done most of it and that is almost unheard of,” Jang said.
Being in a shared space is beneficial not only to keep costs down, but there are also other advantages to being in a community with other chefs. For example, if Jang runs out of an ingredient, she can call a fellow tenant and ask to borrow it, with the promise that she’ll promptly replace it.
Other current tenants include: Something’s Cooking Catering, Celebrations By Us – catering, Jilly’s Jerky, Good Omen Gyoza, Sweet d’Lush – crepe station catering and, of course, Spoke Cafe.
In addition to being landlords, Misty and Dan Olson offer their tenants business consulting services.
“We don’t know a lot about cooking, but we know a lot about starting a business and running a business,” Misty Olson said.
“What’s great about this model is that if we help them grow, they will grow out of the space,” co-owner Dan Olson said.
The Olsons are considering opening up another, larger kitchen to serve tenants that grow to a new level. In the meantime, they are dreaming about what other experiences they can offer at Hub.
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More Info:
hubkitchen.com
newrosecatering.com