Aspiring culinarians without brick-and-mortar spaces of their own will soon have a new option to ply their trade. The Creative Cookery, a shared cooking space, will open midsummer at 2566 Gladiator Drive in Fenton.
“The idea is to have a space for caterers, bakers and food truck operators to rent by the hour,” said co-owner Joe Henderson.
Henderson, who participates in amateur barbecue competitions with the St. Louis Barbecue Society, got the idea for The Creative Cookery when he tried to do some barbecue catering on the side and couldn’t find anywhere to prep and cook which met area health code requirements.
“I saw a real need for it in St. Louis,” Henderson said, so he spent two years visiting similar facilities around the country and researching what it would take to open his own space.
The 1,200-square-foot facility, which most recently was a tanning salon, will feature two main kitchens, one for caterers and another for bakers, as well a classroom that can be used for cooking classes or small events and a food prep area. The space is currently undergoing a gut rehab and should be up and running in late June.
The Creative Cookery won’t require contracts. Instead, users will sign up for a block of time online and pay beforehand. The space will be available 24 hours a day, and each client will be given a unique code to access the facility. The building will be monitored remotely via security cameras, and staff will be onsite during business hours.
“It’s kind of like a laundromat, basically,” Henderson said. “It’s kind of based on that format.”
Matt Sorrell is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.
This article appears in April 2017.