It’s no surprise that the COVID19 pandemic has caused everyone everywhere jump through hoops to save our businesses and jobs. It is no secret either that the Restaurant industry, like many others, has had to literally re-invent itself.
I remember that at the beginning of the shelter-in-place, someone invited me to see a roundtable hosted by Mexico’s Cámara Nacional de la Industria Restaurantera (the National Chamber of the Restaurant Industry). Also, I virtually attended talks in both the United States as well as in France, and everyone discussed the same. How could we re-open restaurants making our guests feel safe and that they can rely on us? The truth was that NO ONE had any idea on how or when we would be able to do so. The only thing we knew is that it had to be soon, for thousands, if not millions depended on these jobs.
18 months have elapsed since many os us have either voluntarily, because of fear, or even due to government’s mandate, went into lockdown. I remember having watched a video on social media of a little girl crying nonstop because she didn’t understand why her favorite fast food eateries were closed. And since then, nothing has been the same, at least up to the moment I sit down to write these lines. Nonetheless, we are still hopeful that in some way everything “we’ll go back to normal”. There are some places where we even see people already getting together like we all used to.
Back then, no one knew nowhere knew what would happen in the restaurant sphere. There were governments which gave very important financial backing to save and give support to as many as possible. In other places, it was the community as well as themselves as entrepreneurs, chefs and servers put all their creativity to be able to stay afloat. We already know that the best moments for growth are when facing crises.
And that was when people started to hear about and approach dark kitchens for those times when fatigue, lack of time, or even little cravings allow us all to enjoy something delicious without having to be cooking for hours. But, what are they? Where are they? Is this something new? So many questions, but I’ll try to briefly respond and maybe we will all take a chance and approach one we had no idea was near us.
When and Where did Dark Kitchens Come About?
Well, dark kitchens aren’t new at all. But let us start at the beginning, because a dark kitchen may or may not be a dark restaurant, and one specific dark kitchen may produce for one or several brands and merely be a place where production and provision takes place.
If we go back in history, delivery services began in the 19th Century in Campania, Italy when King Umberto and his wife ordered pizza delivery. Nonetheless, we can be sure that the business model has evolved in a very important way.
Now let us fast forward to 2015 when the term ghost kitchen appeared for the very first time in an article published in New York City and talking about how digital platforms such as Seamless or GrubHub and restaurateurs were offering services using different restaurant names or brands while cooking their dishes in production kitchens instead of restaurants with dining rooms.
Regarding Dark Kitchens and COVID19
Given that restaurants closed in March, 2020 and that fixed costs would not stop, chefs, restaurateurs, and pretty much all entrepreneurs in the industry were asking themselves if they would be able to keep on going with home delivery and curbside pickup. Hence, many of them started using their restaurant kitchens and production kitchens. Their dining rooms became assembly lines of packages handed out to delivery services or even to part of their staff who were delivering themselves, or even UberEats and the above mentioned app participants.
La Cocina del Huiza
Alan Morales is a young chef I met not long ago in one of the many trainings offered online in the middle of this mess. We were both looking to make the most of the pandemic times and carry on learning. We started following each other on social media and I found we had more than one common interest. So, I talked recently with him about his new project: La Cocina del Huiza. Given that Alan had planned to open a restaurant at the beginning of 2020 and COVID19 made him put a halt to the opening until further notice, he decided to be an entrepreneur of a different project; one which was more adequate to the times. He therefore planned a dark kitchen that would operate from the place he hopes in the future becomes the restaurant he’s been promising for his clientele of a year and a half.
But let me give you a little bit of context. Alan is a young cook with Type 1 Diabetes. So, it is no secret that He must be more careful than the rest of us and avoid at all cost catch the dreaded SARS-CoV2 virus. Therefore, he decided that it would be best for him to share through La Cocina del Huiza a local cuisine that is almost farm to table, or in this case, ranch to table. With the chef’s special touch, he shares traditional foods of Mexico promising we won’t have to sell our soul to make ends meet.
It sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? And if many of the most luxurious restaurants world-wide brag about their farm to table, La Cocina del Huiza is not that far off, for Alan has a very close relationship with producers, farmers, and many of his vendors provisioning to make posole, chiles en nogada and many more seasonal delicacies.
Placing your order is no difficult task either. You must contact him via Insta. His handle is @yosoyares. Follow him and be on the lookout. It is in his TL where he will share menus, dates, and availability. To place your order you’ll just need to DM for availability and confirm you’re within their scope of delivery, which is limited because it is the team behind La Cocina del Huiza in person doing the deliveries to eliminate third parties that most probably will make the food more expensive.
On top of all, be sure that you’ll learn something about the dish you get to taste. Alan puts all of his effort not only to cook great food, but also to share knowledge. Doesn’t it sound appealing already? I think, this one, at least for now, is actually a restaurant without a dining room.
One last recommendation if you ask for delivery from a dark kitchen: Verify they comply with all the licensing and health requirements to operate.
