Philip Smith knows how traditional dishes can connect immigrants with their home countries.
Smith was born in the Philippines but spent most of his life in Indiana. He’s spent his adulthood reconnecting with his Filipino roots, including through the country’s food.
“Every community gathers around food,” Smith said. “You make your life decisions around a kitchen table, so we want to make sure that we brought that to Indiana.”
Now Smith, a founder of the Philippine Cultural Community Center, is on a mission to help local entrepreneurs offer culturally diverse food across Indianapolis.
The southside community center, which also houses a daycare, preschool and food pantry, expanded nearly two years ago and opened the nonprofit, Kitchen of Culture – A Commissary Kitchen. Now, local food entrepreneurs of all backgrounds have an affordable way to grow their businesses while also giving people a chance to enjoy cuisines that are harder to find in Indianapolis.
“Food is something that can tear down a lot of walls and teach people through their stomach,” Smith said.
Learn about the local food vendors that use Kitchen of Culture.
Commissary kitchens allow food entrepreneurs to rent space in a kitchen so they can prepare or cook food, store ingredients and clean equipment. It’s a launchpad for vendors who want to enter the food scene without enduring expensive overhead costs, or those who are concerned about having enough clientele to keep the stove on.
The Philippine Cultural Community Center received a $80,000 grant from Central Indiana Community Foundation to build the kitchen — a price tag that many residents can’t afford on their own.
At Kitchen of Culture, memberships are $200 per month, which lets businesses use the facility for 2 hours per week. Members pay $25 per hour for additional time. Non-members pay $30 per hour with a 2-hour minimum. Businesses can also pay $25 an hour to serve food out of the sit-down restaurant located at the front of the Philippine Cultural Community Center.
“All you have to sell is maybe two or three dishes to get that back,” Smith said. “Maybe five dishes an hour to pay you and your food costs, it just depends on your market.”
The Kitchen of Culture team also helps vendors file paperwork for proper food handling licenses and makes sure entrepreneurs are operating within code.
Kitchen of Culture has a few spots left and is offering 8 hours of free prep time if interested businesses sign up before the end of December. Food entrepreneurs can contact kitchen@phcenter.org.
Arnold + Gladys = Ardys
Arnold and Gladys Pataig, high school sweethearts and owners of Ardys Concession, began a catering company in 2011 to sell traditional Filipino cuisine. The business has been a vendor for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2016. Now they have a food truck in downtown Indianapolis, and have traveled to serve people at events across the Midwest, including the Kentucky Derby.
As he’s gotten older, Arnold has decided to scale back on traveling to events to try serving people at a traditional sit-down restaurant.
Using Kitchen of Culture’s dine-in restaurant over the past year has helped him learn how to operate a different aspect of the food industry while serving more community members.
Now, he wants to help other budding food entrepreneurs.
“If there’s young ones or new ones that want to do business, well, I’m willing to help them,” Arnold said.
Midnight Brands
There are multiple commissary kitchens in Indianapolis, but openings are scarce. That’s one of the reasons Travis Arieon, the owner of Tenderloins After Dark, is excited to be one of the newest businesses to join Kitchen of Culture.
“The vast majority of commissary kitchens I had contacted either never contacted me back or were completely full,” Arieon said. “Or didn’t have a fryer or couldn’t do overnights.”
Arieon has been a cook for about 17 years, but it’s difficult to start your own restaurant. He didn’t think a food truck would be a viable option for him since he believes people don’t feel comfortable ordering from a food truck unless vendors are stationed at a fair or pop-up event. That makes it difficult for food trucks to turn a profit on a daily basis.
“As far as a brick-and-mortar restaurant, it’s immensely expensive to get into it,” Arieon said. “Doing it through a commissary kitchen to start is a unique way to get into the market for the lower end of investment.”
Arieon said he’s grateful that Kitchen of Culture has given him this opportunity, which will help him to work toward expanding the businesses into a separate brick-and-mortar space that can be open 24/7.
The southside native will serve a variety of tenderloins, including a spicy option. Arieon will share the space and ingredients with David King, who will operate I’m Smashed Burger.
Within the next few weeks, residents will be able to order food through DoorDash 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and Arieon hopes to eventually expand into the week.
Salo Salo
Salo Salo, which means ‘gathering’ in Filipino culture, has used the Kitchen of Culture and the community center’s dine-in restaurant for about two months. The Filipino fusion eatery sells ube mango cakes, empanadas and more.
Owners Jeremy and Grace McGee are Wanamaker residents who have lived on the south side for about a decade. They are using the kitchen while they grow a business that they hope to pass down to their children.
“You’re not starting from scratch,” Jeremy said. “We’re starting with something that’s already in motion and that helped us out a little bit.”
Working in Kitchen of Culture gives businesses a chance to learn how to market themselves and gain new clientele. The McGees said their experience cooking and serving food has allowed them to get their feet wet as they work toward their future goal of owning their own brick-and-mortar restaurant.
“Now that we are getting to know more about running a business, having a restaurant,” Grace said, “we would like to have long term and loyal customers, develop a relationship with our customers. And I think we’re more confident we can have a brick-and-mortar.”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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