Business incubator responsible for 450 news businesses expanding to Providence
Hope & Main, the state's largest culinary incubator, is expanding into Providence with a downtown restaurant and marketplace at 100 Westminster St.
President and founder Lisa Raiola also announced a further expansion with new culinary kitchens to be established on the city's West Side.
The Hope & Main Makers Marketplace is expected to open early next year. It will offer breakfast and lunch, grab-and-go hot and cold foods, a beverage bar, catering and a curated selection of member products and prepared foods.
Benny Barber of BSquared will be the chef. The coffee, tea and craft beverage bar will be run by Providence's Schasteâ and owner Tony Lopez.
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Chef Barber will integrate many of the artisan products into the menu. It could be as simple as adding hot sauce from Trinidad to a breakfast sandwich.
He will also work with cooks from Hope & Main who are growing their concepts and businesses, many with tastes from their native lands. They might have two-week pop-ups that will not only feed diners but educate the cooks on food costs and planning. For example, it will be a delicious two weeks for diners when Martha Tsegaye cooks her Ethiopian dishes. Currently, you have to find her food at one of the weekly Makers Markets in Warren.
Eight years ago, when Hope & Main opened its doors in an old Warren school building at 691 Main St., a new chapter began for culinary entrepreneurship in Rhode Island. Food artisans with a product and a dream now had a home, not just to cook, but also to learn about business and develop a path to success.
They have helped launch 450 food businesses 40% of which are minority-owned. Not all survive but 40% of the businesses remain open and viable.
Now Hope & Main wants to bring their entrepreneurial program to Providence and nurture more urban food artisans and chefs.
"This is all about a comeback story for downtown Providence," Raiola said.
The restaurant and marketplace will occupy the ground floor of Paolino Properties’ 100 Westminster Street office building, adjacent to the Beatrice Hotel and the Superman Building, in the heart of the Financial District, she said.
The site was formerly Au Bon Pain, Nicks on Westminster and most recently Brewed Awakenings.
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The building is also home to The Papitto Opportunity Connection, philanthropist Barbara Papitto's foundation. Raiola applied to the foundation for financial assistance to bring a second Hope & Main to Providence. Raiola said Papitto stepped into the kitchens in Warren and immediately understood how the incubator’s affordable and accessible shared-use space is transforming what is possible for entrepreneurs of color. That suits the mission of Papitto's nonprofit.
Raiola not only got the grant to expand to the city, Papitto brought her to the Westminster Street building to meet owner Joseph R. Paolino Jr. That's how the deal was struck for the restaurant and marketplace.
As for the new Hope & Main, Raiola isn't ready to share the address beyond saying it is on the West Side. It will have three shared kitchens and two graduate kitchens for businesses that have outgrown the shared-use model.
The mission of Hope & Main in Providence remains the same as in Warren, Raiola said. Nurturing new businesses, especially with minority owners, brings economic mobility that helps the community while leading to individual success, she said.
The challenges however, are many. Once they have a product, new businesses may have to fight for shelf space at stores. That problem will be solved by the new marketplace.
Not only does Rhode Island not have enough commercial kitchens, but there are also few resources for food companies as they grow, she said. They may need to build their own brick and mortar space or find local production sources.
Hope and Main success stories
But there are some success stories to inspire.
The Backyard Food Company, by Matthew McClelland and Louby Sukkar, launched with three products in 2014. High hopes were pinned on Wholly Jalapenos, Apple Butter and Red Pepper Relish. Today, the line of condiments, pickles and salsas numbers 30 products which are sold in more than 800 stores, including Whole Foods.
In the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Buns Bakery began in Warren, producing babka and bread. It was delivered by baker Guy Hanuka to customers waiting in parking lots. Now, he has a baking facility in East Providence and works with a staff of eight.
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Raiola notes she can still feel good about those who didn't succeed. The shared infrastructure means those owners didn't lose everything. Now bringing Hope & Main to Providence means making the chance to succeed as an entrepreneur open to urban food artisans who will begin forging their way to market.
Sign up to follow the progress of the new Hope & Main Makers Marketplace online here.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island's culinary incubator Hope & Main expanding in Providence
