Commercial kitchen to open in Ponderay

By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader Staff

For culinary artisans, the loss of the Bonner Business Center industrial kitchen in 2014 was a serious blow to their livelihoods. More than four years later, they have a new option when Kitchen Ponderay opens on Jan. 15.

The kitchen opens almost exactly a year after it was announced by Paul Kusche and the Bonner County Economic Development Corporation. The 1,540-square-foot kitchen will occupy the space in Bonner Mall previously used by the Hideaway Lounge. Local contractors Pend Oreille Mechanical, Sandpoint Electric, Will’s Plumbing, Reader Concrete and Lauca Construction constructed the kitchen.

Developed through a partnership between Bonner County commissioners, the city of Ponderay and Pandhandle Area Council and funded through six grants (including $30,000 from Northwest Business Development Association), the kitchen will be managed as a branch of Kitchen Spokane. It’s the perfect space for culinary entrepreneurs who lack the capital to invest in their own equipment, and it will also be used for charitable food programs.

Those interested in using the kitchen should email [email protected], call 509-868-7710 or visit www.CommercialKitchens.site.