HOLYOKE — Two years ago, a question came to school nutrition director Matt Lillibridge while researching coworking software for corporate offices: Could these programs work in a kitchen?
Three cities, several potential vendors and one fallen-through real estate deal later, Serve Food — a shared commercial kitchen — celebrated its grand opening on High Street in Holyoke last week.
The concept behind the shared kitchen is simple and mimics a commercial marketplace business model. Chefs rent the workspace on a month-to-month basis, the money collectively pooling toward kitchen supplies and the building’s mortgage.
“Essentially, we’ve taken all the hard work out of setting up a kitchen that a food business startup would need,” says Lillibridge, Serve Food’s chief founder.
He estimates that costs to establish a profitable mid-sized restaurant can total around $375,000, a figure which is backed up by a RestaurantOwner.com survey. Monthly kitchen space rentals at Serve Food start at $500, which can help reduce expenses significantly, Lillibridge says.
The idea of shared commercial kitchens is not new, but Serve Food is believed to be the first such business to open in the Valley. While researching the business concept, Lillibridge found an online community of chefs with the same vision around the world. The Network for Incubator and Commissary Kitchens (NICK), for example, is a 1,800-person Facebook group of chefs working out of shared kitchens. Using resources shared in the group, Lillibridge connected with local small businesses and development centers to get Serve Food off the ground.
Getting to opening day, however, didn’t come easy. After efforts to open in both Springfield and Chicopee fell through in 2019, Lillibridge’s real estate agent approached three of his friends who co-own a building at in downtown Holyoke, at 112 High St.
Lillibridge was hesitant at first because of the city’s economic depression. “I mean, Springfield’s economically depressed too, but I live here already,” he joked.
After meeting the landlords and discussing the business concept, though, Lillibridge realized that moving to Holyoke would give him a much larger space for a cheaper mortgage. Vadim Tulchinski, one of the building’s three owners, specifically voiced his interest in partnering with businesses that would increase foot traffic around his properties. He and Lillibridge grew close through the purchasing process, prompting him to also get involved with the business.
“They’re actually not legally business partners, but definitely kindred spirit partners in the business,” Lillibridge explained. “They gave us a super discounted rent to be in the building, compared to anything else that I would have found in Springfield. Plus, they pay half the upkeep.”
With the building secured last fall, Lillibridge moved forward with plans to turn the kitchen into an intentional community of chefs, business owners and customers.
“When you’re having fun, you cook better food,” Lillibridge says. “When you’re having fun, when you’re singing songs, the food tastes better. That’s the vibe we want at Serve Food.”
Although the company currently only has one monthly renter, Lillibridge hopes that the community will grow as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes less dangerous. With the recent increase of vaccination levels, he says the shared kitchen is already generating more interest among small business owners.
Once Serve Food has more renters within its space, Lillibridge hopes to launch a “cloud kitchen” component of the kitchen. This would be an internal food delivery service, staffed and funded by the rental money. The eventual goal is to mimic a marketplace feeling, where customers can purchase several items from different vendors with low delivery costs.
Lillibridge believes that the cloud kitchen component will be mutually beneficial for vendors and customers alike. It would open the door for less experienced chefs and hobbyists to market their products while limiting extra fees for shoppers.
“And even if you find nothing works, you spent money, but that’s it,” Lillibridge said. “You didn’t lose your house, you didn’t go bankrupt. You had an adventure.”
His goal of creating an intentional community is close to Lillibridge’s heart, as he has spent his entire adult life searching out and participating in others. He and his wife met when they both lived and worked in an intentional community in New York.
“We are an intentional business community, we are here to support each other and see each other grow and prosper,” he explained. “It’s in everyone’s best interest, because when the kitchen is full of members, we’re sharing the price amongst all of us and it’s affordable and we can all have fun.”
Moving forward, Lillibridge hopes to expand the shared kitchen into franchises in small cities throughout the Northeast. Instead of competing with larger cities, he hopes to bring local and diverse food to communities like that in Holyoke.
“Those are still cities, they still have businesses, people who want to start food businesses there,” he said. “Everybody’s got to eat. Everybody has a dream, and we want to help them.”