Locker-to-Table: An innovative dining experience at PVD's ghost kitchen, Bath Food Co.

Paul Edward Parker, Providence Journal
·4 min read

PROVIDENCE – On a recent road trip to Philadelphia, my teenage son and I were looking for something healthy to eat.

Instead, it felt like we accidentally walked into a dystopian novel.

My son picked out a place online – Moonbowls, a Korean restaurant promising rice, veggies and lean proteins in spicy sauces. But when we arrived, all we found was a small industrial-looking building with the words "Order Takeout Here" painted above the doors.

Inside was a nearly empty white room outfitted only with a giant iPad on one wall, next to a row of lockers.

"ORDER TAKE OUT HERE" was painted on the wall above the iPad.

Jeremiah orders food from the kiosk in the lobby of the Bath Food Co, ghost kitchen in Providence.
Jeremiah orders food from the kiosk in the lobby of the Bath Food Co, ghost kitchen in Providence.

We tapped the screen and found a listing of more than a dozen restaurants, including the Picky Vegan, Zelda's Teriyaki and Moonbowls.

We each ordered a "Build your own Moonbowl," and Jeremiah got a banana chia pudding for dessert.

After we got a text telling us our food was done, we held our receipt up in front of a smaller iPad in the white room, and locker A2 popped open, revealing a lavender Moonbowls bag holding our food.

More: RI was snubbed by the New York Times best restaurant list. Here's what they missed

Bath Street ghost kitchen in Providence is cooking up Mediterranean, shawarma and Chick-fil-A

We didn't know it at the time, but this was our introduction to "ghost kitchens." And the company that operates the one in Philadelphia, Los Angeles-based Cloud Kitchens, also runs one in Providence, called Bath Food Co., named for its location at 65 Bath St.

Jeremiah retrieves food from the pickup locker at Bath Food Co. in Providence.
Jeremiah retrieves food from the pickup locker at Bath Food Co. in Providence.

What is a ghost kitchen and how do they work?

Simply put, a ghost kitchen is a food-service operation with no dining room. It caters primarily to food-delivery services, but many also have the option of pickup by ordering online or at an on-site kiosk.

"Ghost kitchens tend to rely heavily on technology," said Chef Matthew Britt, an associate professor at Johnson & Wales University who organizes a symposium on food innovation and technology. Most of that tech is in the interface with customers, but it is also becoming involved in preparation – a robot just might be making your meal.

While a ghost kitchen might be for a single restaurant, many operations have several tiny kitchens – as small as 200 square feet – to group a variety of restaurants at one location. And, it's not uncommon for a large brand name to serve its delivery operations from a ghost kitchen.

One of the kitchens at Bath Food Co. serves the delivery business for Chick-fil-A in the Providence area. Unlike other offerings at Bath, such as Orale Taqueria, Teriyaki San and Shawarma Chateau, walk-in customers can't order Chick-fil-A at the kiosk. It must be ordered through Chick-fil-A's app.

Bath Food Co., the Providence location of Cloud Kitchens is at 65 Bath St.
Bath Food Co., the Providence location of Cloud Kitchens is at 65 Bath St.

Will ghost kitchens replace sit-down restaurants?

Although ghost kitchens were around a few years before COVID-19 showed up, the pandemic really energized the ghost-kitchen concept, which may contribute to its staying power, Britt said.

"Whether you blame the pandemic or not, people don't always want to go back to the way things were," he said. "People don't always want to go in and sit down."

But ghost kitchens are a long way from replacing traditional restaurants, Britt said. "It hasn't become socially acceptable. It's not in our DNA yet."

But, he predicts, they are more than a passing fad.

"I think they will last. I think they will evolve to become something they aren't currently now," he said. "There's always been an emerging trend for people to crave convenience and crave food on-the-go. It's sort of a byproduct of where we are as Americans in the 21st century."

So, what's the food like at a ghost kitchen?

"It comes close to where the experience of a traditional brick-and-mortar will be," Britt said. But, he added, some foods may not translate well to being prepared in a kitchen, packed to go, waiting in a locker, and then add some time for a delivery drive, or takeout customer, to take the food to where it will be eaten.

And, as a hybrid between fast food and fancy restaurants, prices can be a little higher than one might expect.

Jeremiah and I had mixed results on a recent trip to Bath Food Co. in Providence, where we ordered from Orale Taqueria.

He got a pork tamale with red sauce, plus a few other things, and I got a pastor tostada, marinated pork on a flat, crunchy tortilla shell.

His cost $4 before tax and tip, while mine came to $6.

The tostada was incredibly flavorful, but by the time we got it home, the shell had softened up a bit. But I will definitely order it again.

"That food was genuinely so good," Jeremiah told me. "That was, like, the best tamale I've ever had in my life. It was so good. So good."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence's Bath Food Co. cooks up something new in 'virtual kitchen'