Rent-a-Kitchen

As a founder of PhillyCarShare, Eli Massar built a successful formula for people sharing cars and their costs.

Now he and his wife, Emily Pollack, are betting that the concept will work just as well for bakers and cooks who want to share a licensed commercial kitchen and bakery.

Philly Kitchen Share, which opened last winter at 15th and South Streets, is an 800-square-foot work space that can be rented by the hour day or night, outfitted with commercial ranges, convection ovens, stainless steel prep counters, and baking equipment.

So far, it has been booked pretty steadily, Pollack says, with cooking classes, a vegan baker selling to farmers markets, a cupcake baker peddling her wares from a truck, and a personal chef and caterer.

"We're enabling young business to overcome the biggest hurdles by providing them with proper equipment in a fully licensed facility that they can rent as needed," Pollack explains.

The idea is not unique: Shared-use kitchens are opening across the country, catering to creative chefs tired of the long restaurant hours, home cooks known for their specialties, and bakers looking to get started, all of whom need a commercial food prep space for their artisanal businesses.

In Lancaster, new mother Leah Margerum wanted to take her home-based organic baby-food business to the next level, but needed a licensed, inspected facility. First, she rented space at the Plum Street Cafe in that town. One year later, the former waitress and chef bought the building. But she quickly realized she needed others to help pay the overhead.

Renovated and renamed East Side Community Kitchen, her 1,400-square-foot facility is now home to a soup business, a biscotti baker, a whole-grain bread baker, a pretzel baker, a pickle lady, and a sandwich maker.

"I really love it when the members leave me little treats: a broken biscotti, some pickles, or a pretzel," Margerum says. "It was rough in the beginning, but it's going really well now. We have a great atmosphere between all the members. If I just used my last egg, someone will pipe up, 'Go ahead and grab some.' "

At Philly Kitchen Share, it all began with a couple's desire to start a bakery in their Graduate Hospital neighborhood. After finding nearby available space, Pollack and Massar soon faced their own limits.

"Emily and I realized that we had serious skills," Massar said. "However, none of them include baking."

Instead, the couple bought and renovated the building, splitting the space between a kitchen and a bakery, each of which rents for $39 to $44 an hour.

Ian Moroney, chef-owner at Pumpkin, a BYOB two blocks away, has used the space to give cooking classes. He recently led a class there for about 30 people, leaving just enough room for him to cook on the gas range and plate up salads.

Moroney lives in the neighborhood and is also the proprietor with his wife, Hillary, of a nearby produce store and a cafe. He says the shared kitchen adds to the vibrancy of the neighborhood.

Massar designed a glass front for the space that could open during evening classes to make the kitchen an integral part of the neighborhood.

"We found that open doors encourage people to stop in and find out what we're doing here," adds Pollack, a Harvard-trained lawyer. (She's still keeping her day job.)

Coincidentally, two other regular customers are also lawyers: Katie Cavuto, a personal chef and caterer, owner of Healthy Bites; and Kate Carrara of Buttercream, who sells her cupcakes from a truck that makes stops throughout Center City.

These attorney clients either have left the profession or hope this will be the path out, Pollack says.

"We joked that the business should be called Philly Lawyers Kitchen Share," she says. "At least they know how to set up a legitimate business!"

"They never seem to balk at the insurance requirement, either," Massar adds.

For the cooking classes, the owners partner with a guest chef and split the profits (minus overhead); the hands-on classes typically cost $65 per person.

Hourly rental rates at the kitchen start at $39 for off-peak hours to $44 an hour for peak time. Rates decrease quickly the more hours you book.

There are also personal start-up expenses: about $800 for caterer's insurance, about $400 for baker's insurance, and the owners require a $250 deposit.

"We will match your business plan, working with you until you're ready for your own place," Massar explains.

Mike Landers, another client, is the owner of North Port Fishington Cookie Bakery. Like Moroney, Landers had no formal culinary training. He has been vegan, eating no animal products, including dairy, for nine years. He loves cookies, and started figuring out vegan baking recipes, beginning with the classic chocolate chip.

Landers now sells those chocolate chip cookies and half a dozen other varieties - including his personal favorite, his yeast-raised cinnamon buns - to two dozen local cafes and at Port Richmond's Greensgrow Farmers Market.

"For what we bake right now, the kitchen is pretty much everything we need," he says.

Initially, Massar says, they thought about building just a shared bakery, but they realized they could have broader rental appeal with a commercial kitchen with baking equipment.

Now that the kitchen is up and running, the energetic pair are working on the building next store to create a retail venue that would include space for Kitchen Share clients to sell their products.

With no commercial kitchen experience, Massar and Pollack got help at Trenton China Pottery, one of the few surviving old-time restaurant supply stores on Second Street. They made some good decisions: buying simple ranges without easily broken computer controls and placing the convection ovens at the end of the line so the electronic controls don't get overheated and break. However, the deep-fryer has never been used because fried food is best cooked to order. On the other hand, the small gas grill could be double the size.

They quickly learned not to buy a piece of equipment just because one person asks for it. One potential customer requested a steam-jacketed kettle to make stock or soup in large quantities. They bought a 40-gallon kettle at the equipment auction from the now defunct Brasserie Perrier, but regretted it.

"It's so big that there's really no place to put it and only useful if someone is making a huge batch of one kind of soup or stock. A smaller kettle would be much more versatile," Pollack says.

The kettle has never been hooked up. If anyone wants a good deal, the owners are willing and eager to negotiate.

Suzie Knowles is a regular client at East Side Kitchen in Lancaster. Knowles grows heirloom vegetables for sale at her Central Market stand, Suzie Q's. She makes pickles from heirloom beets there, and is happy to have a place to preserve her home-grown produce to sell year-round at her market stand.

The cost of doing business in Lancaster is lower, so members of East Side Community Kitchen pay only $15 per hour, though they must sign a strict non-compete agreement, promising not to compete with other East Side kitchen users.

Ample refrigeration and freezer space stocked with giant bags of ice, a meat slicer, and easy side-down pickup and delivery space are benefits here. A convenient location has drawn customers like the owners of the nearby Prince Street Cafe, who ride their bicycles to the kitchen and make their own muffins and pastries instead of buying from others.

At Eastside, once members are established they get a key and may use the kitchen anytime.

"Starting a food-based business is so difficult," says owner Margerum. "Here we help each other."

Philly Kitchen Share

1514 South St., Philadelphia

267-808-0729 or 917-558-3922;

phillykitchenshare@

gmail.com

Pricing: Peak: $44 per hour; off-peak: $39 per hour. Both kitchens can be rented together for $75 per hour peak-time, $66 per hour off-peak. Volume discounts available. Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

East Side Community Kitchen

347 N. Plum St., Lancaster, Pa.

717-330-4101;

leah@thislittlepiggy.info.

Pricing: $15 an hour. Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Makes about 2 dozen doughnuts

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1 cup unbleached all-

   purpose flour

1/2 cup organic white sugar

   (most conventional sugar

   is bone-bleached)

1/2 tablespoon nonaluminum

   baking powder, such as

   Rumford

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon pie spice or

   cinnamon

1/2 cup apple cider

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Earth Balance

   margarine, melted

1/2 tablespoon Ener-G egg

   replacer, whisked with 2

   tablespoons water

1 cup sifted confectioners'

   sugar

2 tablespoons pie spice

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1. Preheat oven to 350. Use spray oil on 2 mini doughnut pans, which are available from Fante's or online.

2. Combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spice.

3. Separately, combine cider, vinegar, margarine, and egg replacer. Fold into flour mixture, and mix until just combined. Avoid overmixing or the doughnuts will be tough. Let the batter rest 5 minutes so the baking powder and vinegar start to react, then spoon by the tablespoonful into doughnut pans.

4. Bake 12 minutes or until the doughnuts are dry when pierced. Let sit 7 minutes in the pan, then smack the pan hard on a clean table. Allow the doughnuts to rest until completely cool.

5. Meanwhile, combine confectioners' sugar and spice in a large container or bag, then shake the doughnuts up in that sugary container.

Per doughnut: 72 calories, 1 gram protein, 13 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams sugar, 2 grams fat, no cholesterol, 63 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber.

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Makes 8 to 10 servingsEndTextStartText

2 pounds beets, trimmed

   with 1 inch of stem left

   on

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 cups strained cooking

   water from the beets

1 cup brown sugar

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1. Place the beets in a large pot, cover with plenty of water, and boil until they are tender when pierced, about 45 minutes, depending on size and age.

2. Set up a strainer over a large bowl and strain the beets, reserving the liquid. Allow the beets to cool to room temperature, then skin and slice. Separately, combine the vinegar, beet-cooking liquid, and brown sugar.

3. Pack beets into storage containers and fill each container with juice to cover beets. Let cool on the counter, then cover and refrigerate. Use within 4 weeks.

Per serving (based on 10): 101 calories, 1 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates, 20 grams sugar, trace fat, no cholesterol, 79 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber.

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Makes 10 to 12 servingsEndTextStartText

4 pounds pork shoulder,

   trimmed, leaving a small

   amount of fat

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon ground black

   pepper

6 cloves garlic

2 sage leaves

Grated zest of 2 lemons

   (zest only)

5 cups whole milk plus extra

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1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Season pork with salt and pepper all over one hour before cooking, cover, and leave at room temperature.

2. In a large ovenproof casserole, brown the pork on all sides. Let the pork rest 10 minutes, then add all other ingredients.

3. Cover and braise 21/2 to 3 hours or until tender when pierced. Note that the liquid should reduce enough to make small browned curds. Check once or twice, adding more milk if the liquid has cooked away before the pork is done.

4. Slice or pull apart into serving portions. Serve with cooked green lentils.

Per serving (based on 12): 413 calories, 42 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams sugar, 24 grams fat, 146 milligrams cholesterol, 1,601 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber.

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