Photo courtesy of The Enterprise Center.

Since its opening in 2012 the Dorrance H. Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprises has helped many local food entrepreneurs launch their businesses: restaurants, catering services and more. Now those interested in learning the ins and outs of operating a food truck have a chance to try their hand at this business while bringing fresh, healthy food options to West Philadelphia.

The Culinary Center, located at 310 S. 48th St., launched their first food truck incubator last month. The program is based on the Beefsteak food truck concept (patented by James Beard award-winning chef and humanitarian Jose Andres’ Think Food Group).  Continue Reading

Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local.

Have you been dreaming of opening a restaurant but find it too risky of a business and need some testing of your concept before launching it? Now you can try your abilities as a restaurateur or a chef right here in West Philly thanks to a new program by The Enterprise Center (TEC-CDC). A pop-up restaurant incubator, titled Common Table, is coming soon to West Philly’s Dorrance H. Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprises (CCE) (pictured) where aspiring food entrepreneurs and chefs will get professional support while testing their chops.

The new restaurant incubator is expected to launch in November 2014 and TEC-CDC is currently accepting applications for the Common Table Fellowship Program. Applications are due Friday, Aug. 15. Other events during the fellow selection process include the TEC-CDC business plan workshop on August 12 and business plan competition and chef tasting event in mid-September or early October. The Common Table 2014 Fellows will be announced in October (visit this page for more details about the program and the application process).

The Common Table program organizers would like to select a “diverse cohort of Fellows based on criteria including strength of their business plans, culinary ability, and commitment to the full program.”

Common Table Fellows will use a new, fully staffed, 1,400-square-foot, 40-plus seat restaurant space at the CCE, located at 310 S. 48th Street. Common Table will also be available for nightly or weekly rentals once its construction is complete.

Committed to helping aspiring local food entrepreneurs, CCE is also hosting Foodie Forums where you can learn about the business services available at the center and how you can become a CCE member to access their state-of-the-art commercial kitchen space. The forums will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 8 – 9 a.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 13, 1 – 2 p.m. Click on the dates below to register.

August 5
August 13

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprises (310 S. 48th St) is hosting an awesome event on Wednesday, Feb. 12: The Culinary Voice will put Philadelphia Culinary Arts students to the test to create a healthy and delicious menu item for School District of Philadelphia cafeterias. Dobbins and Randolph High School students will take part in this live cooking competition.

The event is organized by Get Healthy Philly, a project of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. The judging panel will include youth, local chefs, including celebrity chef Kevin Sbraga, and School District representatives. The event starts at 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

For more information and tickets, click here.