Chefs, food entrepreneurs, hospitality pros and New Yorkers can rejoice at the official opening of Nimbus, a flexible, state-of-the-art shared commercial kitchen space designed to support the hard-hit restaurant industry, opening on January 11, 2021 in the Lower East Side. Founded by entrepreneurs Camilla Opperman and Samantha Slager, Nimbus is a lifeline to movers and shakers within the food community that offers collaboration and opportunity for anyone from a pop-up concept chef, to a catering wizard, to a beloved Michelin star chef, to participate and collaborate on ideas, share food and support each other at any stage of their business.
“We are so excited to open our doors and bring a new, female-led modern and collaborative approach to on-demand kitchens to life. We now more than ever realize the need to support the next generation of chefs and restaurants through fair, equitable and most importantly, functional spaces that will help entrepreneurs succeed in this incredibly challenging industry. When we first started researching this business, we found that most kitchens were expensive and required long-term lease commitments, or the more affordable options were run-down and poorly managed. Nimbus is a new approach to commercial kitchen spaces, and we are committed to entering a new era, side-by-side with our members,” say Opperman and Slager.
Opening in tandem with Nimbus features a roster of restaurants and food entrepreneurs that are inclusive of all that New York City’s diverse food scene has to offer. Roberta’s Pizza, the infamous Brooklyn restaurant beloved for its wood-fired Neapolitan style pizzas will be operating a restaurant out of Nimbus’ marquee kitchen space for the first time for delivery in New York City exclusively through a partnership with DoorDash and Caviar. Expect fresh, hot pizzas, pastas and sides on demand no matter what part of the city you live in.
Additional Nimbus members feature a slate of female-founded businesses that tapped into their creative forces during the pandemic, including Quinn, a modern on-demand meal plan delivery service by Allie Fitzpatrick; Alchemista, a bespoke food and beverage service offering food solutions that run the gamut from chef-driven corporate catering to food lockers and much more created by Christine Marcus; and the Black and female-owned ready-to-drink batched craft cocktail delivery, retail and catering service Brooklyn Batched Cocktails by Gabriel Noble, who dreamed up her company after losing her job to COVID layoffs and decided to bring her passion of craft cocktails to life in the form of a business. The certified Minority Woman Business Enterprise Munch Hours, created by Miss Niani Taylor, will also be operating out of Nimbus as a catering service providing delicious, healthy and nutritious meals to residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City in sustainable, eco-friendly packaging with the planet in mind.
Nimbus is more than just a kitchen. The space also allows for a front of the house community area and show kitchen where, in a post-COVID world, it can be transformed to allow for different food-centric events, panel discussions, cooking classes or pop-up dinner through a partnership with Resident, a culinary platform that connects diners to the faces behind the food. Expect a lineup of COVID-safe intimate dinners and events with Michelin-trained chefs for ‘chef’s table’-style dining experience with talent from the kitchens of Eleven Madison Park, Per Se, Atomix, and other top restaurants around the city. Resident will host a series of interactive tasting menu experiences in the space throughout the year, with limited seats available to book directly through Resident’s website, as well as the option to book a private event.
The health and safety of all members of the Nimbus kitchen is and will always be top priority. Daisy Health, a FDA-authorized COVID concierge testing service is providing regular testing to all members and employees. Each kitchen is provided with dedicated cleaning between shifts to ensure cleanliness standards that go above and beyond.
Everything at Nimbus is designed with the success of its members in mind, helping businesses grow and thrive in today’s economy without the extensive regulatory hurdles or capital expenditure required in a new kitchen. In addition to kitchen space, Opperman and Slager are taking it to the next level by offering operational support and guidance on licensing, navigating members through the antiquated Department of Health for certification, and start-up business needs. Expert insight and advice on ingredient procurement and recipe scaling perspective, as well as resources for preferred partners is also offered as part of Nimbus’ operational support arm.
