Chicago health inspectors have destroyed thousands of dollars of food belonging to a pastry chef and catering business that didn’t have their licenses in order at inspection time.
Inspectors visited Kitchen Chicago, a culinary incubator for emerging chefs, last week and again this week.
I’m a big fan of the shared kitchen concept. The arrangement makes it more affordable to start a food business because those who share space don’t have to invest in the commercial-grade infrastructure required to prepare food safely.
But what Chicago inspectors made clear over the past few days is that even with a commercial grade kitchen at a chef’s disposal, business licenses still need to be in order. If not, all food on the premises could be considered suspect.
What I don’t understand is why there seems to be such a huge disconnect in what the foodie entrepreneurs thought was the right path and what the city code required.
There appears to be conflicting information and codes that make it more difficult for small businesses to share space like this. For instance, business license applicants involved in the inspections told the Chicago Tribune initially that multiple business licenses couldn’t be issued to the same address.
Alexis Leverenz, who owns Kitchen Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune that one inspector said that her walk in cooler would need to supply separate locked areas for each client to prevent them from sabotaging one another’s food. The director of food safety later said that wasn’t true.
“There is still a big disjuncture between the bosses of these departments and the people on the ground,” said Flora Lazar, owner of Flora Confection, one of the businesses that had food destroyed. “We just want them to be consistent with their rules and to let us see the code so we can follow it.”
Virtual Farmgirl 