I had a little trouble explaining what this place was when asked, so I went to the website to see how they explained it themselves....
"It's not everyday that a fully-equipped professional mega kitchen with an event space becomes available to the community. Today is that day.
Take a class, teach a class, host an event, test equipment, create beautiful menus, eat a great meal, grow a food business and more. The Great Lakes Culinary Center was created to build culinary dreams and fuel food passions. With absolutely everything located under one roof; the Great Lakes Culinary Center is destined to become the favorite new "food place to be".
Venue Features
Thousands of square feet of usable space, with indoor and outdoor seating options.
- Fully equipped kitchen with specialized cooking features.
- Seats up to 150 people.
- Holds up to 200 seated and strolling guests.
= Tables, linens, stemware, china and buffet service equipment available for rental
Menus available soon!"
Well, that sort of paints a picture of what to expect, but not EXACTLY. This spot sells high-end commercial kitchen equipment. Customers can come to this site to test the equipment in the kitchen, the dish room and/or the bar. That's cool. Actually, it's really cool.
What they don't explain (exactly) is this is also event space. So if said commercial customers want to bring in a big staff of people to check it/test it out, they could. That's cool too.
And again, what isn't exactly clear, is that if you just want a cool place for an event, they are available for rentals! Top notch chefs, using top notch equipment for your next event. SO. VERY. COOL.
And it just keeps getting cooler. They recently added a completely organic food-to-table garden along side the building. I am loving this place! The women who run the gardens (Carol Shapiro Havis of TheraGardens) also do special programs and events on healthy eating, organic gardening and more.
I brought a group of 25 people to check out the facility, hear the background of the company and the building and how they are constantly expanding their focus and had a tour of the gardens. They even set up a little planting station for everyone to plant and take home a little sunflower or snap pea.
And the price was REASONABLE.
I highly recommend checking it out if you are looking for a cool venue. Or if you're looking for high end commercial restaurant equipment. Or if you want to learn a little about organic gardening. read more