In 2019, Nikki began hosting pop-up events and supper clubs while also offering plant-based meal prep and crafting small-batch food products. Like many in the industry, she adapted to changing circumstances. By 2020, she was offering personal chef services, and in 2022 she launched Plated by Nikki in order to bring her unique approach to meal prep to an even larger audience.

From Inspiration to Innovation

Nikki’s health journey has deeply influenced her approach to cooking, inspiring her to focus on nutritious and satisfying meals. Working closely with private clients to design custom menus has shown her the importance of creativity and adaptability in meeting diverse health needs and family preferences. Through these experiences, she’s proven that eating well can be both flavorful and varied, highlighting the joy in wholesome, nourishing food.

Plated by Nikki will soon introduce a small kids’ menu, featuring recipes tested and approved by even the pickiest eaters. Many dishes will include hidden veggies, making them both delicious and nutrient-packed. Highlights include Turkey Kale Meatballs, Macaroni Bolognese with their veggie-rich marinara, and Mac & Cheese with a veggie-infused cheese sauce.

Customized Meals, Crafted with Care

Nikki’s meal prep service combines convenience, nutrition, and exceptional taste. Meals are offered a la carte and packaged family-style, letting you mix and match proteins, sides, and sauces to suit your preferences. Her menus include gluten-free, vegetarian, and meat-based options, ensuring something for everyone.

Plated by Nikki emphasizes quality with organic proteins and produce, pasture-raised eggs, and grass-fed meats, avoiding unwanted additives like antibiotics or hormones. Transparent nutritional information empowers you to make informed choices, and eco-friendly, compostable packaging means you can enjoy meals sustainably and guilt-free.

The Commissary Advantage: A Platform for Growth

Operating out of Garden State Kitchen has been a valuable resource as Nikki adjusts and expands her services. With access to shared resources, professional equipment, and reduced overhead, our kitchen provides food entrepreneurs the flexibility to refine their offerings, test new ideas, and scale operations. This environment meets the needs of various business models, allowing entrepreneurs like Nikki to focus on perfecting their craft and responding to market demands efficiently.

By sharing Nikki’s journey, we celebrate not only her achievements but also the benefits of a supportive culinary ecosystem. For anyone considering a step into the food business, Garden State Kitchen might just be the perfect place to start—or restart—their journey.

The post Carving Out Her Place in the Food Industry appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

Bagels: A Labor of Love

What defines a good bagel? Most would say crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Doughy, but not tough or rubbery. Just the right amount of salt. That’s just the texture and taste. 

The making of bagels is no small feat. From mixing and kneading to shaping, boiling, and baking, each step demands precision, patience, and a healthy dose of elbow grease. 

The ideal bagel maker is meticulous, observant, adaptable, and creative. With a background in engineering and a career in tech and sales, Jeff ticks all those boxes. 

For Jeff, launching his own bagel business and baking before sunrise is about more than the science and timing of the perfect bagel, it’s about connection. It’s the joy of getting to know his customers at the farmers’ market and providing comfort through food. Jeff has also used his bagel sales to raise funds for causes that align with his values. Bagel-making serves as an avenue to building and supporting community.

Farmers Markets: A Launchpad for Bagels

For a start-up bagel business, farmers markets offer the perfect proving ground. These community hubs draw customers seeking handcrafted, high-quality foods and give bakers the chance to connect directly with their audience. 

Farmers markets allow bakers like Jeff to test new flavors, refine their recipes, and build a loyal following one bite at a time. It’s a golden opportunity for small food businesses to experiment, grow, and gain feedback.

In one season, Uncut Bagels have become so popular that they sell out within a couple hours of the market opening! You know you’ve made it when local Redditors are posting “Uncut Bagels, MFers legit”. 

Uncut Bagels is a finalist for Best Bagel in Jersey City! Cast your vote in support here.

Why Commissary Kitchens Work for Farmers Market Sellers

With flexible hours and professional-grade equipment at their disposal, food start-ups can prepare their goods in a health department-approved facility, then transport them fresh to the market.

Membership at Garden State Kitchen allows for experimentation and scaling of production as demand grows, all without the hefty investment of a permanent storefront.

Interacting with fellow entrepreneurs in the kitchen fosters a sense of community, where sharing wisdom, lessons, and inspiration helps everyone navigate the ups and downs of building a business together. 

The post Rising to the Occasion: New Jersey Bagel Start-Up Thrives in a Shared Commissary Kitchen appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

Farm-to-Table Distributors

Zone 7 

A staple in the New Jersey local food supply chain, Zone 7 connects chefs and food businesses with over 120 sustainable farms in the region. Their focus is on fresh, seasonal ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, dairy, and proteins sourced from New Jersey and Pennsylvania farms. Zone 7 provides a convenient online ordering system and delivers directly to kitchens, ensuring that the produce you receive is harvested at peak freshness.

Harvest Drop 

Known for its 100% local sourcing model, Harvest Drop works with over 75 different producers throughout New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. They specialize in a wide variety of seasonal produce, proteins, eggs, mushrooms, and other specialty ingredients. Harvest Drop’s unique approach allows for ingredients to be delivered to customers within 24 hours of harvest​. Harvest Drop’s user-friendly online ordering system makes it easy for businesses to browse available products and plan their menus around local, seasonal offerings.

National & Regional Distributors with Local Focus

Ace Natural

Ace Natural is a distributor of organic and sustainably produced foods, serving the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut areas. They offer a wide range of products, including local and regional options, such as organic produce, bulk grains, dairy, and plant-based proteins, making them a key resource for businesses looking to incorporate sustainable ingredients into their menus.

Baldor Specialty Foods 

Although headquartered in New York, Baldor Specialty Foods is a major supplier of fresh produce and specialty items to New Jersey businesses. They offer an impressive selection of locally sourced products, including fruits, vegetables, meats, and artisanal goods. Baldor’s commitment to quality and their efficient distribution network make them a popular choice for chefs and food service professionals throughout the region. Their online platform makes ordering simple, and they offer flexible delivery options for New Jersey-based customers.

Gargiulo Produce 

Based in South Jersey, Gargiulo Produce is a family-owned wholesale produce distributor that has been serving the tri-state area for decades. Known for their commitment to sourcing high-quality fruits and vegetables, Garguilo Produce works closely with both local farms and national suppliers to ensure a consistent supply of fresh products year-round. Their extensive inventory and reliable delivery service make them a valuable partner for restaurants and food businesses looking to incorporate both local and global ingredients into their dishes. 

Regional Access

Based in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Regional Access is a distributor that specializes in local and regional products from the Northeast. They offer a diverse selection of artisanal foods, beverages, and specialty items, many of which are sourced from small producers in New Jersey and neighboring states. Their focus on supporting local economies and sustainable practices aligns well with businesses seeking to emphasize locally sourced ingredients. 

Riviera Produce

Riviera Produce offers a vast selection of local and nationally procured produce, dairy, and specialty items to chefs throughout New Jersey and the broader Tri-State Area. By balancing local partnerships with national sourcing, Riviera Produce ensures that New Jersey’s food businesses have access to both the freshest local ingredients and a vast selection of products from across the country.

UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.)

UNFI is one of North America’s largest distributors of natural and organic foods, offering a diverse selection of locally sourced and specialty products to retailers and food service providers across New Jersey. Their focus on sustainability and organic offerings helps businesses incorporate eco-friendly and regional ingredients into their offerings. With both a national reach and an emphasis on local sourcing, UNFI connects New Jersey businesses to fresh produce, groceries, and hard-to-find specialty items.

Farmers’ Markets and Local Farms

New Jerseyans are lucky to have access to approximately 150 community farmers’ markets across the state, providing direct access to fresh, seasonal produce from local farms. These markets offer an excellent opportunity for chefs and food businesses to build relationships with farmers and source unique, high-quality ingredients. Many of the community farmers’ markets are open for six months out of the year, and winter markets are becoming more popular as farmers extend their growing season through the use of high tunnels. Find a market near you via one of the following guides:

Edible Jersey

Edible Jersey’s list of farmers’ markets is divided by county and includes the dates and times for each market, as well as a link to each market’s website. 

Jersey Fresh

The Jersey Fresh website provides a searchable database to locate on-farm markets, community farmers’ markets, wineries, breweries, and more. You can also search for pick-your-own locations.

Bringing New Jersey’s Best to Your Menu

New Jersey’s rich agricultural landscape and innovative food distribution networks provide ample opportunities for sourcing local, high-quality ingredients. By partnering with distributors like Zone 7 and Harvest Drop, or working directly with local farms and specialty suppliers, food businesses can create menus that showcase the best of what the Garden State has to offer. This commitment to local sourcing not only ensures fresh, flavorful dishes but also supports the state’s agricultural community and promotes sustainable food systems.

Garden State Kitchen offers convenient cold, frozen, and dry storage subscriptions, allowing you to effectively manage and store all your ingredients in one place.

Have a resource to add to this list? Send us a note and let us know!

The post Where to Source Local Ingredients in New Jersey appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

A Lifelong Love of Food

Olivia has been working as a food stylist and recipe developer for over 15 years. She’s even authored two cookbooks! Her passion for food began in childhood and took her to Le Cordon Bleu for her culinary education. When she moved to Maplewood with her family a few years ago, she befriended many other parents of small children who struggled to find time to cook wholesome meals for their families, but dreaded the existing takeout options. Olivia shared some of her home cooking with friends, and the excitement over her dishes kick-started her desire to bring a dinnertime solution to more families. 

Balancing Niche with Wide Appeal

Meal prep is definitely trending, so how does a new entry into the market carve out a place for themselves? One key to building and retaining a customer base is finding a niche audience while offering enough variety to keep them coming back. For Olivia’s, that niche is family-friendly meals. Comforting but healthy. Familiar but with a flavorful twist. And they alway ensure there’s something on the menu to suit choosier kids. 

Keeping It Real

If you’ve seen Olivia’s website and social media, you’ll have seen her skills as a food stylist. Her dishes look drool-worthy and are great advertising. But pretty pictures don’t keep customers coming back. Olivia’s recipes are solid, and so is her business management. Beyond the delicious food and the convenient and reliable delivery service, is Olivia’s down-to-earth attitude. The tone of Olivia’s website and social media is friendly and a bit cheeky. Olivia welcomes us as family. And Olivia listens to her family of customers. She checks in with her audience to learn what they have a hankering for and makes the effort to meet those requests. 

An Eye on the Environment

With two young children, Olivia is mindful of the earth their generation will inherit. Olivia’s uses compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable packaging. And they source their produce and meats locally when possible. Garden State Kitchen has employed a composting company since we opened, so all of the food scraps produced in our space are collected and composted. 

Starting Up at Garden State Kitchen

As in demand as Olivia’s is, they don’t need commercial kitchen space seven days a week (yet!). Garden State Kitchen keeps their costs down to what they need and use. We have the ranges, the ovens, the charbroiler, the mixers, the sheet pans, and almost all the other appliances and gear you need to start cooking on Day One in our kitchens. We have dry, cold, and frozen storage available. And best yet, we do the dishes and the cleaning. Whether you’re going home for the night or going on vacation, you won’t have a facility to worry about or repairs to arrange. We take care of the kitchens so that you can create!

The post Launching a Food-Based Business, Even With a Full Plate appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

Latisha Thornton, CEO/Owner of Sweet Tee’s Catering and Event Planning, started cooking professionally more than a decade ago. She opened a restaurant, tuned up her business model during the pandemic, and she’s now busier than ever. Here’s how renting one of our commercial kitchens helps her cater large events and keep her customers coming back for more.

The Day Starts Early

Latisha’s phone starts ringing early in the morning. Sometimes she takes a quiet moment to focus and get ready for the day because she knows once it starts, she won’t stop. Every day, Latisha takes about 20 calls from clients, vendors, and the members of her team who make her catered events happen. Then there are the follow up texts, emails, and everything else that comes with running the show. She’s busy this spring, but every season is busy for Sweet Tees’s Catering and Event Planning. And she couldn’t be happier.

A Family Tradition Turns Into a Business

This year, Sweet Tee’s is celebrating 10 years with a big anniversary party, but her story starts much earlier. Latisha started cooking for her family when she was eight years old. She learned from her mother, watching and prepping by her side. Fast forward to adulthood and she started cooking for friends. She loved the connections that happen when people gather over food to celebrate and share their lives.

In 2012, she took it a step further with a special New Year’s Day brunch for her family. The event instantly became a tradition. The following year, she included friends too, widening the circle. The year after that, word got out – and she had a line out the door of people waiting to come in. That’s when she realized she had a food business waiting to happen. And maybe more.

Great Food + Excellent Customer Service

Today, Latisha describes herself as a serial entrepreneur who’s always run small businesses in addition to her career in finance. Food and hospitality remain at the core. She now leaves the cooking to her staff, but Sweet Tee’s is still known for incredible food. Her menu features American fare with many influences. You’ll find soul food, southern cuisine, and flavors that cross the map from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean with tastes of Asia.

In addition to her delicious meals, Latisha’s known for her professionalism, attention to detail, and the responsive communication that keeps her events business humming. Her customers enjoy her casual contemporary style and say she listens to them. She’s creative and easy to work with. This is how she consistently exceeds expectations and guarantees everyone gets the party they really want.

Pandemic Closure Brings Time to Focus on the Future

Sweet Tee’s started as a restaurant in Clark, NJ. Latisha built a solid business, but when the pandemic hit, she was forced to pivot like everyone in the industry. She immediately moved her business online and focused on delivery. She also started experimenting with new revenue streams such as meal prep. During the shutdown, she took time to hone her ideas and tighten her offering. This laid the foundation for her to scale into the comprehensive events business she runs today.

Over the years, she’s built relationships with venues, musicians, bartenders, DJs, servers, cooks, bakers, anyone she can hire to fulfil any client request. This suite of services, combined with stellar food and customer relations, has proven successful. It also allows her to keep all the pieces of the business under her umbrella and offer clients a one-stop shop.

Commercial Kitchen Space Is Key

Behind the scenes in the kitchen, she has two options for commercial cooking. For events of up to 50 guests, her staff preps out of a small kitchen in Linden. For heavy catering events of up to 500 people, she relies on Garden State Kitchen. Our catering kitchens are built for high volume cooking and come with the professional equipment she needs to get big jobs done. Since we rent space on demand, she can book a kitchen when she needs it, for as long as she needs it. She also rents dry, cold, and frozen storage shelves, so her ingredients are ready when she is.

Takeout + Delivery Based at GSK

A new, growing part of Latisha’s business is Sweet Tee’s To Go. She runs this takeout and delivery service at Garden State Kitchen on Friday and Saturday. Customers order from a set menu of her specialties – mains like crab cakes, fried whiting, Rasta pasta, and sides of string beans, potato salad, cabbage and collards, to name a few. Lemonade and southern sweet tea round out the beverage menu. When it’s ready, customers can pick up their meals in Garden State Kitchen’s designated takeout area. Or they can use one of the delivery apps such as Door Dash to have it brought to their home.

Latisha says her takeout business has been slow to start because her core customer base lives in Union and Middlesex counties. However, as a veteran of the industry, she knows it takes time to build momentum and get established in a new area. She also knows how to get the word out. To increase awareness, she passes out flyers in the neighborhood and posts on social media. She says it’s paying off and that word of mouth is working too. To further maximize her time in the kitchen during this startup phase, her crew simultaneously preps for catered events, whenever it makes sense.

Government Contracting Brings More Bookings

Government contracting is another way she gains customers. She took the time to get Sweet Tee’s certified, a paperwork intensive process, with state and federal governments. Being a preferred vendor helps her win big catering bids and connect with local municipalities for corporate events.

In addition to corporate, municipal, and private parties, Sweet Tee’s partners with entertainers to host themed events in local eateries. On weekends, she brings Soulful Sunday Brunch, a delicious buffet with cocktails and a DJ, to an upscale lounge. She also produces comedy shows and special nights out. Next month, she’ll present Sweet Tee’s 10^th anniversary celebration, an elegant food and wine tasting with many special guests. (Mark your calendars for April 28!)

The Future is Bright

With this big milestone achievement, Latisha is excited about the future. And she’s turning up the heat on her business even more. She plans to one day have a multipurpose venue of her own. It will be a space with a commercial kitchen where she can host events, parties, cooking classes, and serve as a headquarters for her business. Until then, we are here for Sweet Tee’s, on demand and ready to get cooking the next time her phone rings.

If you want to hear more about what it’s like to cook a Garden State Kitchen, text or call (201) 589-1456.

The post How to Cater Your Way to the Top appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

We’d just opened when Erica Leahy of Three Daughters Baking Co. rented our commercial baking kitchen for the first time. It was 2018, and renting a professional kitchen by the hour was just what she needed: a low-risk way to scale her start-up food business. She could vend at local farmers markets while she built a small bakery and cafe inside the General Store Co-op, a shared retail space in Maplewood.

This year, she traded the co-op for a proprietary storefront in a brand-new building in downtown South Orange. Three Daughters Baking Co. opened on Valentine’s Day with a line down the block.

Erica and her husband Chris Leahy, also a chef with decades in the business, run their sparkling new bakery together. They knew it was a big step, but one worth taking. A few months in, they are expanding their menu, attracting new customers, and often close with an empty display case.

While opening a bakery isn’t easy, Erica and Chris bring deep culinary experience. He’s on the savory side and has run professional kitchens for trendy restaurant groups. She’s led high-volume commissary baking and production kitchens. Their new place is much larger than the co-op and holds bigger opportunities.

In the glass display case, Erica’s elevated desserts stand beside Chris’s inventive sandwiches and egg dishes. Diners sit indoors or out, enjoying espresso with a perfect slice of cake or a wedge of seasonal ramp and goat cheese quiche.

We salute Three Daughters Baking Co. and are proud to have played a small part in their success. If you find yourself in South Orange, stop by and see what’s in the case. We’ll see you there!

The post Three Daughters Baking Co. Opens Beautiful New Bakery appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

Budgeting isn’t the fun part of running a food business, but it’s as necessary as a great recipe, especially in shaky economic times. With inflation and the threat of recession dominating headlines, join us for a discussion of tactics you can use right right now to boost the financial health of your company.

We’ll cover the top 5 budget mistakes food entrepreneurs make just as their business starts to grow, and how you can fix them or avoid them in the first place.

UCEDC‘s Kevin Chu (Loan Officer) and Ellen McHenry (Senior Director of Financial Programs) lead the conversation and Jewell Domino of BelleJohns’ Soul Food will share strategies she used to scale her business and open a place of her own.

Take this one-hour workshop if you:

• own a small food business and have been operating for two years or more
• understand the concept of cashflow but your bookkeeping could be better
• need to boost resilience against inflation, fluctuating prices, and recession
• want to understand how business lending works and what the opportunities are
• have an idea of your breakeven point
• want to fully understand how pricing, recipes and operating costs impact profit
• want real-world answers from industry experts who can help your business succeed
• want to see your numbers in a powerful new way

Hope to see you there!

The post New – Financial – Workshop Alert! appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

While there are many Black-owned food businesses at Garden State Kitchen, we want to highlight two members who cooked in the kitchen this month. In honor of Black History Month, meet vegan chefs and lifestyle coaches Plant Based Planet, and Bro-Ritos, a growing company with iconic green food trucks and incredible burritos.

Plant Based Planet

Plant Based Planet is a famliy-run business that helps customers transition to and maintain a vegan lifestyle. With an eye toward health and longevity, they focus on the Black community, though they work with everyone. They prepare meals at Garden State Kitchen that are delicious and nutritious, and support new vegan clients with cooking classes, guidance on grocery shopping, and private holistic health coaching sessions.

Bro-Ritos

The guys at Bro-Ritos run a Mexican fast-casual food truck business, but when they need room to prep for a large corporate event, they work at Garden State Kitchen. Renting additional space gives them the ablility to quickly reach new customers in more locations without the expense of immediately opening a kitchen of their own. When the weather warms up, look for their bright green trucks at festivals and events across the state, but be willing to wait. There’s always a line.

Want to learn more about the entrepreneurs who cook at Garden State Kitchen? Check out our blog. 

The post Black History Month in the Kitchen appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.

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If you own a small food business and are looking for production space, Garden State Kitchen may be a good fit. It is for A’jar Sweet Cream Factory, shown above at their retail location in the American Dream Mall. This family owned and operated dessert-in-a-jar bakery makes creamy sweets from famliy recipes enjoyed for generations. With everything made by hand, our commercial baking kitchens have just what they need. Take a tour and see how professional cooking space for rent by the hour can help you too.

The post Need Professional Kitchen Space for the Holidays? appeared first on Garden State Kitchen.