FAIRBORN — The upcoming kitchen incubator, 305 W. Main St., is aiming to bring chefs with dreams of creating products out of their home kitchen and into a commercial one.
The project, located in the former Roush’s Restaurant, already includes commercial kitchen equipment and space to store dry and cooled goods. City Manager Rob Anderson explained during a citizens forum Aug. 28 that the kitchen area is aiming to be expanded and updated. The other side of the restaurant is visioned to include a completely different kitchen to accommodate gluten free chefs. It has the possibility to assist food trucks as well by providing storage space and commercial sinks to wash up after events.
The former Flying Tiger restaurant, which recently closed its doors, will also live on in the kitchen incubator as the owners donated coolers and freezers before the facility was demolished.
The remaining space, Anderson said, will highlight education with cooking classes and demonstrations. It will also include meeting spaces and will ultimately be considered a “co-working space” to accommodate the “age of the super temp.” The restrooms will also be updated and the decor is visioned to be industrial to help the city complete the project on a “shoe string budget.”
Utilizing the kitchen incubator will come at a monthly membership cost, which is yet to be determined, but is sure to cover the costs of the business.
The city also purchased the remainder of the block, including 309 and 311 West Main Street, and have plans in place for those buildings.
Current businesses on that block, such as The Inside Scoop, in addition to the long-standing businesses along Main Street aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, as Anderson said the city is making an effort to work with and celebrate the long-time downtown businesses.
The goal is to get as many people to that area of the community as possible, Anderson said.
Another way the city is going about meeting that goal is including public art. A local artist recently painted a Frankenstein mural on the side of Foy’s Halloween Store and more art is visioned to be created in coming times. It is also highlighting food trucks by hosting events and providing space for them to park and offer products.
Each Friday, the city is offering a “food truck pod” in the parking lot of the Fairborn Theatre during lunch hours. It most recently hosted food truck Flyby at the event.
