- The Allen Neighborhood Center is home to the Rathbun Accelerator Kitchen which is a shared kitchen that offers the next step in the journey of food entrepreneurs by giving them a storefront restaurant and resources to succeed.
- Mr. Leslie's Cheesecakes is one of the longest tenants in the accelerator kitchen and in their nearly 6 years in the space, the company has managed to grow largely and now has cheesecakes in nearly every Meijer in the Lansing Neighborhood
- Brewitt Cafe and Bakery, owned by Erin Witt, started as a food truck and now is the newest tenant in the accelerator kitchen
- In the attached story, I spoke with both business owners about their experiences in the Allen Neighborhood Center accelerator kitchen
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
"Wow, how did my cheesecake journey begin? It's not a deep or special story, I just like cheesecake," said Marcus Leslie, owner of Mr. Leslie's Cheesecakes.
Little did Marcus Leslie know, his taste for cheesecake which started more than 20 years ago would develop into an idea for a business.
An idea he just needed a little help getting off the ground.
"I had a friend some years ago after I got married that said hey have you ever heard of Allen Neighborhood Center? and I hadn't heard of Allen Neighborhood Center," said Leslie.
But soon enough, he learned all about them and what's called their accelerator kitchen.
"What is the accelerator kitchen?" I asked.
"The accelerator kitchen is a place with a dining room storefront for restaurant concepts to essentially run through the test phase and growth phase of their business", said Abie Kopacz, ANC Kitchen, and events manager.
Mr.Leslie's Cheesecakes is one of the program's first success stories with his products now being sold in grocery stores across our neighborhoods.
"We sell over 400 to 500 cakes a week just in Meijer alone and that's a lot. I'm trying not to tear up, that's a lot," Leslie said.
And now that he's on his way out of the program and moving into his own warehouse, he's providing inspiration to the next generation of aspiring restaurant owners like Erin Witt who's beginning her journey.
"I'm sad to see him go but I'm very excited for him that this program has benefited him enough to get him to be something bigger," said Erin Witt, owner of Brewitt.
Her business Brewitt sells coffee and sandwiches. It started with a food truck and now has grown into a storefront in this same kitchen that she says has already given her a leg up in her path to owning her own restaurant.
"Something like ANC is so beneficial because they connect you with resources and the people here are resources themselves," said Witt
If you want to try Brewitt or the other restaurants in the accelerator business here are their business hours.
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