BALTIMORE, Md. — Opening a restaurant is a costly venture. For those who don’t have access to traditional funding, it can be a dream killer.
We’re here at Our Time Kitchen, a place that’s making chef’s dreams come true. It’s an incubator kitchen providing affordable space to help startup food businesses grow, and gives established chefs like John Anane-Sefah a home base.
“It’s meant a lot,” Chef John says. “It means community to me. I feel like a lot of us here are here for that portion as well, to sort of help boost each other up and support each other. And so that’s one of the things i love the most about this place.”
Catina “Cat” Smith and Kiah Gibian bought this building in Old Goucher during the pandemic and opened three years ago.
“I was hosting this thing called chef meet up where I would meet up with local chefs in the city, where we kinda chop it up with one another, to build comradery,” Cat says. “And it was a recurring theme that people didn’t have an affordable space to cook out of.”
Together, these women are shaking up the local culinary industry, providing resources, mentorship and support to the chefs here.
“Both Kiah and I have a heart for the community, giving back,” Cat says. “We always have. I think it’s just our heart work. Our passion. A labor of love, surely. We just wanna help people out because we didn’t have that thing, so we want to be able to provide that to others.”
More than 30 small businesses operate out of here. Seventy percent are women-owned, and 95 percent of those are owned by Black women like Cat.
“I have been a chef for about 20 years,” Cat says. “And what I’m doing now, which is, pouring into the community. I’m doing cooking classes with kids. I’m teaching small businesses how to get their permitting. And I’m also still a private chef and caterer.”
Their backyard has become a cultural hub. It’s also where the chefs hold pop-ups on weekends.
And in the front, a community garden.
The women had a vision of what this place could be. And their vision is still unfolding.
“Cat and Kiah are these just incredibly generous people who, like, really are vested in helping all of us succeed, you know,” Chef John says.
You can find out about Our Time Kitchen’s next pop-ups, cooking lessons and more here.
