@withregram • @graciouskitchen_clt It’s hard to believe a year ago today, Gracious Kitchen went from a dream to a reality. I’m the midst of a pandemic, Stephanie Rickenbaker of @sweetselderberry realized some serious production changes needed to happen in order to keep up with demand. With a small (but mighty) team, we took on the challenge of opening our own FDA-inspected production facility for Sweet’s Syrup. What transpired next, we never knew was coming. We found a kitchen, thanks to Chef Charles Semail. Bought a steam kettle, secured our ingredients, retrofitted the space to suit our needs and still had room to grow. With the additional kitchen space, we knew we wanted to be able to help others in our community make their dreams a reality too. And there, an incubator kitchen was born. Fast forward a year, and we have now housed 13 different businesses, became a dietary supplement, produced over 32,370 bottles of elderberry syrup, all while adding three new products to the Sweet’s line.. and me tell you, this is only the beginning! Proud of this team for pushing through the long days and sleepless nights and am so excited to see where the next year takes us. We are so grateful to share this space with so many amazing businesses! A special thank you to @chefcharlescatering for his endless advice and support, @fortheloveofdutch and @meshugganah for baring with us as we got the concept off the ground and the ability to adapt at any given moment. Thank you to @updogkombucha for keeping us supplied with booch and wisdom of this industry, @chefmonicablends for help with recipe development and always rocking a smile, @offtheblock_clt for their organization and creativity, @queencitycrunch for bringing the HEAT and positive energy, @oldnorthshrub for his patience and invaluable insight, @onehotdadclt for appreciating the learning process, @_urbanhoney_ for managing our schedule while working a full time job, @kayceeskitchen for reminding us to always keep hustling, @justaddwineboards for always being on her A game, @takesthecakecharlotte for always keeping us laughing and feeding us cake!! When you hear the saying “it takes a village”, it truly does. 💞 https://www.instagram.com/p/CT0ngc2Md7J/?utm_medium=tumblr
