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IndyStar: A test kitchen at the Yard in Fishers will borrow from high-tech co-working space.
When a test kitchen and dining hall open at the Fishers District this fall, the newbie chefs with a spot will get a boost from an unusual source: techies.
The three initial chefs picked for the Test Kitchen at the Yard will have available to them expert advice and consultancy on the business side of operations — forming corporations, accounting, food costs, marketing and social media.
It’s a model perfected at another collaborative venture, Launch Fishers, whose co-founder John Wechsler is helping with operations of the Test Kitchen and will apply principles from the successful high-tech co-working space to the cooking startups at the culinary accelerator at 116th Street and Interstate 69.
After a year or two in the shared dining hall, it is hoped that the chefs will open their own businesses, much the way the tech companies that begin at Launch expand and go out on their own.
“We know that they are great at what they do, food-wise,” Wechsler said. “But that is usually not what puts you out of business. It is usually bad business decisions.”
When a test kitchen and dining hall open at the Fishers District this fall, the newbie chefs with a spot will get a boost from an unusual source: techies.
The three initial chefs picked for the Test Kitchen at the Yard will have available to them expert advice and consultancy on the business side of operations — forming corporations, accounting, food costs, marketing and social media.
It’s a model perfected at another collaborative venture, Launch Fishers, whose co-founder John Wechsler is helping with operations of the Test Kitchen and will apply principles from the successful high-tech co-working space to the cooking startups at the culinary accelerator at 116th Street and Interstate 69.
After a year or two in the shared dining hall, it is hoped that the chefs will open their own businesses, much the way the tech companies that begin at Launch expand and go out on their own.
“We know that they are great at what they do, food-wise,” Wechsler said. “But that is usually not what puts you out of business. It is usually bad business decisions.”
“It depends on what the individual chef feels like they need because they all have different levels of experience and expertise,” said Jolene Ketzenberger, who will handle programming for the Test Kitchen and the Kitchen Table, a demonstration cooking counter at the Yard.
The chefs have already been selected from about a half-dozen who applied, and their identities will be revealed about two weeks after they are signed. The $110 million Fishers District, which will have restaurants, shops, a hotel and apartment building, will begin opening in September or October.
The chefs are not getting a free ride. Their rent will be determined by a percentage of their revenue, and they are responsible for hiring employees and purchasing their goods and advertising. But Ketzenberger said they will see a savings because they don’t need to buy or rent the expensive stoves, sinks and freezers that are provided at the Test Kitchen.
“It’s cheaper than renting space in a strip mall, and these kitchens are built out so they don’t have to worry about that overhead,” she said.
Three kitchens will help the chefs prepare their menus for customers in a 350-seat dining hall connected Sun King Brewing.
Kathy Jones, executive chef at Second Helpings, said the assistance offered to the Test Kitchen cooks should be helpful to any budding chef. Second Helpings prepares daily meals for the hungry and runs a seven-week training and job placement program for the cooks. Some go to work in restaurants, and others enter culinary school.
“Everything they teach you in culinary school, really, can’t compare to being out there in the real world,” said Jones, who owned a restaurant in Fountain Square. “Managing a kitchen and food and labor costs, you know. If you don’t have a good business sense, paying taxes and insurance and all that can be daunting.”
“And nowadays, you have to have a social media presence, even hiring someone specifically for the job.”
Brian Shapiro, the owner of Shapiro’s Delicatessen, said cursory advice at the Yard will only go so far.
“If they’ve got competent coaches, it could help them,” he said. “But some of these are day-to-day jobs. You’ve got to hire an accountant, a bookkeeper.”