Am I Opening a Ghost Kitchen?
Sort of.
You may have heard of "ghost kitchens" recently when Uber Eats announced it was removing 5,000 of them from its platform. Ghost kitchens are essentially restaurants that have no seating or even a brick and mortar location you can order food from. They are take out or delivery only.
Ghost kitchens, also known as virtual restaurants, have been around for a while, but they really took off during the pandemic, and they continue to be popular and on the rise.
They have recently received bad press when it was revealed that the gourmet grilled cheese you ordered from the trendy sandwich shop with the cool branding, was actually being made at your local Denny's. Other restaurants were setting up multiple listings with branding and logos, but essentially the food was all coming from the same place.
Another issue with ghost kitchens has been the quality of food and the question of health inspection and regulation, but not all ghost kitchens are shady. Most of them run in accordance with food safety regulations and simply operate as a take-out or delivery restaurant to keep overhead low.
Pete's Pizza in New Richmond, Wisconsin was a ghost kitchen back in the day. It was my dad's favorite pizza, and it ran out of a small kitchen in the back of the owner's house. No dining, just take out. We'd call in an order, drive to his house, my dad would run in and get our pizza and off we went!
Even as a kid, I thought it was pure genius! I think I've always wanted a restaurant in my house.
One Li'l Kitchen will have a grab-and-go menu and frozen take-and-bake options and will also accept custom orders. I will keep regular, but limited business hours for pick-up and I will also offer delivery for a fee in my local area.
On the days I'm not keeping store hours, I'll cook and bake so I can keep the grab-and-go options freshly stocked.
On the days I am open, you'll find deli salads, soups, sauces, baked goods, side dishes, prepared meals, and frozen items to bake at home like pot pies, calzone and lasagna. I guess whatever else I can come up with, too. There is a bit of a void in terms of fresh, homemade food options in our "neighborhood."
I won't be making burgers, pizza or fried foods. We have plenty of that nearby.
I might make fresh spring rolls, however. We'll just see.
Learn more at hiddencottageatlinncroft.com
No comments:
Post a Comment