Through Ownership, Chicago Street Vendors Find a Lifeline Via Commercial Kitchens
Chicago street vendors have grappled with the city’s restrictions on food sales for decades, and are often faced with repeated tickets, fines, and police encounters. Now a group of longtime vendors has taken an important step in protecting the livelihoods of their members – buying a commercial kitchen where they can legally prepare groceries and conduct their business without fear.
According to Block Club Chicago, local vendor cooperative Cocina Compartida de Trabajadores Cooperativistas bought a commercial kitchen at 3654 W. 16th Street in North Lawndale this spring. Chicago vendors are not allowed to prepare food at home or on their carts on the street – something that other parts of the county like LA have made part of its cultural fabric. In Chicago, access to a professional kitchen is a life changing proposition.
Owning the kitchen further expands its power: Now cooperative members like Carmen Nava-Najera, a venerable tamale maker in town for more than two decades, can offer opportunities to sellers struggling with licenses and law enforcement. She and her cohort want to rent the kitchen at affordable prices to help others gain access to licenses and operate it legally, she tells the Tribune.
Carmen Nava-Najera and Luis Melendez Ashok Selvam / Eater Chicago
Nava-Najera and her fellow retailers originally organized themselves as the Street Vendors Association of Chicago 28 years ago. The group successfully helped campaign for a street vendor business license in 2016 and began renting the kitchen space on 16th Street two years later.
Other members of the Chicago hospitality community also want to use commercial kitchens to empower entrepreneurs: Chef David Blackmon (Blu 47, Butterfield 8) plans to open an incubation kitchen at Englewood Connect, the $ 10.3 million building project for the 800 block of the West 63rd Street. Entrepreneurs will be able to cook and serve outside of the licensed space while Blackmon helps them learn how to apply for small business loans and grants to help grow their brand. It is an ambitious endeavor, however, and an opening date has not yet been announced.
These kitchens can provide significant opportunities for sellers, but they also play a role in another controversial topic in the hospitality industry: the rise of huge corporate entities like DoorDash, UberEats and Grubhub, which have often used “ghost kitchens” to bring food from national chains – a Approach that independent restaurateurs say is ruining their businesses.
In other news …
– Acclaimed local chef Brian Jupiter (Ina Mae) will host the Chicago event for the James Beard Foundation’s Summer Taste America series on Tuesday, July 13 at his Frontier restaurant in Noble Square, a representative said. Jupiter offers a three-course meal with smoked Wagyu beef cheek and grilled black-eyed peas. 65 percent of ticket sales go to Frontier and 35 percent go to foundation projects such as the Open for Good campaign. Tickets and further details are available on the foundation’s website.
– Travelle at the Langham has hired pastry chef Nitin Bali to oversee the pastry shop and manage all pastry activities throughout the hotel, including afternoon tea service, dessert catering, banquets and more, according to a representative. Originally from India, Bali has degrees in hotel and tourism management, as well as baking and pastry making. He worked at Ritz-Carlton Hotels in the United States and the Middle East for nearly a decade and previously ran the pastry shop at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago.
James Beard Award-winning chef Adam Siegel (Lake Park Bistro, Bacchus) has announced plans for Lupi & Iris, a fine-dining restaurant inspired by the French and Italian Riviera that will open in downtown Milwaukee in spring 2022, according to a representative should. Before that, Seigel worked at the renowned Italian favorite restaurant Spiaggia in Chicago and as head chef and managing partner of the entire Bartolotta restaurant empire. He is working on the project with commercial real estate developer and architect Michael DeMichele.
Fast food giant McDonald’s will launch a new nationwide loyalty program called MyMcDonald’s Rewards on July 8, the company announced on Tuesday. The launch is part of a larger push to promote the brand’s digital capabilities, touted as a line of ordering tools called MyMcDonald’s.
West Town-based catering company Big Delicious Planet is hosting a weekly four-course outdoor urban farm dinner series every Wednesday through August 25 at its farm, kitchen and canteen in Hubbard and Wolcott, according to a representative. Tickets ($ 165) include beer, wine, and a cocktail. Contact Tock for more information.