ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A non-profit organization that supports entrepreneurs who are looking to launch a small food business and individuals interested in culinary training has a new space in the Barelas neighborhood.
The Street Food Institute‘s new home, the Barelas Community Kitchen, is located on the corner of 4th and Barelas Streets. “It is a space that has multiple types of things that can happen. So it’s a shared kitchen for food entrepreneurs who are looking for a space, a commissary space. There is an education space for our entrepreneurship classes, cooking classes, people that might want to use the space for themselves to teach a class, guest chefs,” explained Tina Garcia-Shams, executive director of Street Food Institute.
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The four kitchens are filled with brand-new equipment, including grills, fryers, tilt skillets, steam kettles, proofers, blast chillers, mixers, and more. Apart from the large shared kitchen and a demonstration/education kitchen, there are two smaller kitchens, one dedicated to baking and the other to vegetarian and vegan food.
In addition to the main building, there is also a smaller building facing 4th Street with three retail spaces inside. “So there will be a bakery, a gluten-free bakery operating out of one. Street Food Institute will operate out of one. We’ll have a small market and a small food, hot food production. And then we’ll have a flex space, which will really be used for students that are ready to launch and might want to test out their concepts, get their systems together,” said Garcia-Shams.
Between the main building and the retail space building, there is a small plaza where events can be held.
The Barelas Community Kitchen held a ribbon-cutting event Thursday and is awaiting an environmental health permit before it can start opening up applications to food entrepreneurs who are looking for a space.
Garcia-Shams said they will still offer internships to students in CNM’s Culinary Program, as well as community members who take their community class. “So those interns work with us in all the components of our business model, which are two food trucks, catering, and then, up until just last week, we ran the cafe at CNM’s new campus,” she said.
The Street Food Institute will also offer a Spanish entrepreneurship class in the summer and other classes, including pasta making, healthy cooking, and traditional cooking.
Garcia-Shams, an Albuquerque native, started the nonprofit 11 years ago and most recently operated it out of a space at Central New Mexico Community College that is set to be torn down. With the help of Homewise, which owns several properties in Barelas, and $2.4 million in funding from U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), she was able to bring her organization into a brand-new space.
“This is a huge leap for us as an organization. We’re very small, like we are not some big organization. And so it’s a little bit overwhelming to think about. But I know we’re ready, and I know I really believe that this is going to be really amazing to be in this space, Garcia-Shams explained.
Homewise plans to sell the space to the Street Food Institute in the future.