Press

So she and Leverenz ... came up with the idea to create a space where almost anyone could get started making and selling their edible wares. ...By creating an affordable, rentable kitchen and a space to show off product, would-be food artists can get help in making a start. ...Now that they've almost finished building it, people are starting to come.

Mike Schramm, Newcity Magazine, February 15, 2005

Time shares: If the concept can be used to pitch vacation condos in Orlando, why not to sell commercial cooking space? That's the idea behind Kitchen Chicago, a "shared-use kitchen" concept that launched in February in Chicago's Ravenswood Manor neighborhood. But unlike the hard sell often associated with proportional ownership vacation properties, chefs, bakers and caterers are approaching Alexis Frankfort, a former portfolio analyst in the Chicago office of Merrill Lynch, and partner Jeff Leverenz.

Brian McCormick, Chicago Tribune, June 8, 2005

This community kitchen is an artisan's lifesaver. Nestled on a quiet street in Ravenswood Manor, this quaint storefront hides a commercial kitchen that's shared by several entrepreneurs who can't afford a place of their own. So what does that mean for you? A charming cafe, decked out country kitchen-style with an antique stove and weathered furniture...

TimeOut Chicago, July 14, 2005

What she and her partner and boyfriend, Jeff Leverenz, wound up creating - Kitchen Chicago, a shared-use kitchen with a storefront in Ravenswood Manor - a novel solution to a common problem. For many small businesses the Internet has radically simplified the start-up process: you knit a sweater, you create a Web site, someone buys your sweater, and everybody's happy ... But since bakers and cooks are required by the government to operate in a commercially certified kitchen, they can't start small: they need a separate workspace, which means large start-up costs. And in the restaurant business there's little tradition of sharing costs and space. It was a niche that, once filled, got noticed.

Nicholas Day, Chicago Reader, July 29, 2005

Tucked inside the Ravenswood Manor beside the busy train tracks, this little burst of sunshine offers far more than your average cold comfort cafe. Besides providing patrons with tasty home cooking, Kitchen Chicago rents a fully equipped kitchen to dozens of aspiring and well-seasoned chefs who need a place to test and tweak their recipes.

Jessica Herman, Centerstage Chicago, October, 2005