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I once tried to bribe a health inspector. I admit that this is not my proudest moment, but I am desperate.

He just refused my permission to open a new restaurant. I asked him if he had any children, and if the "children" needed to sponsor the purchase of new minor league jerseys. I suggest, maybe a scholarship for one semester of university. Or maybe one of his children only needs to remove an unsightly mole? All he has to do is tell me what "donation" he wants, and I can achieve it in exchange for this little help.

That's how it is done. You will never just slip an envelope across the table quietly; you offer to sponsor something.

I took it out of my pocket. It was not a fat one, but it was definitely an impressive chubby envelope. Then I stuffed it in his computer bag and we sat on the table in my empty 130-seat restaurant in downtown Chicago. I am waiting for his next move.

It is important to understand that bribing Chicago city officials is not a thing in the movie. In fact, unfortunately, this may be a very real business cost there. Like I said: I am desperate.

This is my last inspection. My opening time is one month later than originally planned. It is an understatement to say that I am losing money. The kitchen alone was over budget. I was forced to buy coffee cups at IKEA, and the inspector was about to postpone my opening for a month because I only placed a tissue dispenser.

I tell this story because if there was a concept of "cloud" or "ghost" kitchen at the time, I would jump in.

There is no inspector. Not allowed. No additions. Does not resolve front-end/back-office employee disputes. No waiter eats French fries on the plate at the service window, nor does it cater to customers who claim to be allergic to water and want discounts.

Ladies and gentlemen in the culinary world, Long Beach gourmets, gourmets and admirers of top chefs from all over the world, please allow me to introduce: The Partake Collective.

Partake is the first of its kind, converted from an old building of 25,000 square feet into nine independent kitchens, ranging in size from 370 to 750 square feet. Ten prep kitchens. A 1,200 square foot communal kitchen, five fully equipped rental cooking suites, eight-hour shifts (four equipped with traditional cooking equipment, one equipped with large-scale catering production equipment). Two public walk-in refrigerators, one walk-in freezer, dry storage room and equipment cleaning station.

Artist's renderings of Partake hall and lockers. Rendering is provided by Partake.

If this is not enough, the Partake cooking community can use the accelerator program to provide funding, tools, and training needed for small brand growth (application required); and tenant support staff to provide expert guidance from law to insurance, product design, and branding.

It is located at 456 Elm Ave. in the East Village Arts District and is housed in a multi-purpose building, including a Pacific Bell telephone switchboard, when fixed telephones appeared, and the nearest MAHLA mental health facility. Now, 456 Elm is about to become the prosperous center of all Southern California cuisine.

I am lucky that Partake CEO Adam Carrillo is willing to show me a tour of the 25,000 square foot site scheduled to open in the spring of 2022, but it is still in a rough construction stage.

Wearing helmets and neon safety vests, we walked through a scene of banging and buzzing buildings, and Carrillo explained that the building will be restored to its former glory. "The main entrance will be on Fifth Street, and the secondary entrance will be on the elm tree," he told me, pointing to the two doorways leading to the sunny lobby, which embraced exposed bricks and original 4×6 wooden beams.

"Right here, you will have a beautiful jewelry box where people can go in and take out food from the locker," he said, while he showed the floor space of a busy construction worker, allowing if you build it-it will come soon The moment. His vision is easy to see.

Workers build restaurants in Partake. Photographs are taken by Matt Miller.

Partake CEO Adam Carillo inspects the kitchen in progress. Photographs are taken by Matt Miller.

Just order through the self-service terminal in the lobby, your mobile device or any number of third-party platforms. Take advantage of contactless pickup or delivery, or eat directly — yes, there is a restaurant where you and all your friends can go out for dinner and order from a completely different restaurant. Imagine: you don’t have to worry about a friend (there is always one) who is an ancient, keto, vegan, gluten-free, low-carb, sugar-free, or very picky friend. More than 20 different kitchen spaces spanning three floors are likely to suit everyone. While waiting for the food, you can also browse the retail market where Partake tenants’ brands and selected products are available.

Partake is a way to bypass the situation I described above. This is a way for home food businesses (goods produced at home for farmers’ markets) to become actual products on grocery store shelves. Or a pop-up window to take the first step towards becoming a real restaurant. This is the helping hand that every small business needs as it prepares to grow, but there is no cash to put in the envelope to oil a few palms when needed, because everything is done.

It is not a dimly lit, inconspicuous, slightly intimidating, dark, hidden, or unwelcome building. It is hidden in an industrial area where you are worried about safety. It is not a "ghost", "shadow" or "dark" kitchen with an irresponsible virtual restaurant, but an anonymous website linked to an anonymous delivery application. There are a lot more.

Long Beach claims to be friendly to small businesses, but anyone from very small businesses will tell you that this is not the case. Although anyone can easily obtain a few hundred dollars of cottage permits to make goods in their own kitchen and sell them at the farmers’ market, your total sales are limited to $50,000. If your success is sufficient to exceed this amount, then you must move into a commercial licensed space, which means hiring a commercial architect, which means hiring a commercial construction team, which means conducting business plan inspections, inspections, Cost, wait, wait, wait for the city to let you open while paying commercial rent.

However, if your total annual sales are 50,000 US dollars, optimistically, this means that you will deposit 20,000 US dollars in your pocket every year to pay for rent, car fuel, food, utilities, insurance, and finally you "You can hardly make enough money to survive. Your business expansion may cost more than $100,000, which is a lot of money for the bank. It can give a person who earns only $20,000 a year to bake biscuits for the farmers’ market at home.

Partake offers more than just a "ghost kitchen" opportunity; Partake fills the gap between having a kitchen at home and having to find $100,000.

Carrillo's background is economic development, so he collaborated with Josh Drew, the founder of Greenwood Advisory. He has worked with Thomas Keller (French laundry), Jeff Cerciello (farm shop), Michael Tusk (Quince), etc. Marc Vetri (Verti Cucina) , And advise The Tartine Group to handle cooking details and ensure that every cooking space is top-notch.

Chef Josh Drew consulting partner Partake Collective (left) and Adam Carrillo CEO Partake Collective. Photographs are taken by Matt Miller.

Are you a hired chef or a passionate chef who likes to share your food on Instagram? Have you ever thought of providing face-to-face cooking classes or demonstrations? Or maybe you just want to spend a day in the restaurant with a prix fixe menu, well, stop talking. There will be a 700-square-foot, state-of-the-art display kitchen that can be used by anyone who wants to rent it (from $800 per day or per week), with chef’s counter seats until six o’clock and a private dining area to get The perfect "chef-driven experience".

In addition, there is also a community classroom on the lower floor, where anyone with teachings can teach. This is a space for lectures, seminars or technical courses (such as hygiene certification).

"I worked with California State University Long Beach to open an entrepreneurial education course in the city center," Carrillo told me. "I think these partnerships are driven by community members with special needs who can share their real-life experiences and help budding entrepreneurs learn more about owning, operating and starting a business."

This can be traced back to Carrillo's overall view of Partake: treating 456 Elm as more than just a kitchen, not just a dining experience, but above all an "entrepreneurial ecosystem" where business owners can expand and prosper. "There are too many positive plans and opportunities [will] happen to this building-I mean, this is not just a discussion, but a continuous expansion." Or, one could call it a culinary collective , "We want you to participate in it."

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