Downtown St. Petersburg’s Central Avenue and Beach Drive are known for their plethora of bars and restaurants, but the owners of a virtual food hall and test kitchen are determined to launch a culinary hub of their own just a few miles away in the Warehouse Arts District.

The Foodie Labs is home to several St. Pete-based ghost kitchens, a shared commercial kitchen for at-home businesses and caterers, and an event space for pop-ups and demonstrations. Its name is a homage to the experimental nature of cooking—a place where both science and art are celebrated in a culinary-focused way.

After a year and a half of build out, The Foodie Labs’ warehouse space—located at 515 22nd St. S within the Arts Xchange complex—celebrates its grand opening on Friday by welcoming Tampa Bay’s food-enthusiasts, chefs and aspiring restaurateurs into its multifaceted space.

Beer, wine and coffee will be on deck, alongside a variety of good eats from Foodie Labs’ tenants and live music from Chad Stivers. Guests can explore the 5,000 square-foot warehouse, experience guided tours throughout its many kitchens, and take a first glance at Chad Mize’s newest murals throughout the space.

Managing partners Jim Pachence and Kristin McKinney Zelinsky both have backgrounds in the culinary industry—Pachence running an online spice and sauce business and Zelinsky with 25-plus years as a caterer—wanted to create a space to help aspiring chefs and business owners enter the competitive world of the hospitality industry.

It can be intimidating to take the plunge into the restaurant business as a first-timer, and The Foodie Labs hopes to help bridge that gap with its all-inclusive ghost kitchen space, mentorship program and various networking opportunities.

Zelinsky tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that The Foodie Labs consists of three vital parts: ghost kitchens or a “virtual food hall” that’s home to six different concepts, a shared, state-of-the-art commercial kitchen and a large event space.

“We’re definitely a next level kitchen and want to focus on clients that are ready to take that next step, not necessarily the home-baker that’s doing the business more as a hobby” she says. “Renting out a ghost kitchen is much less risky than committing to a 5 or 10-year restaurant lease, and we take on the majority of the risk so that our clients don’t have to.”

Its current tenants include: breakfast spot Bagel Babe, globally-inspired concept Cybel House of Chicken, sandwich slingers The Toasty Bros, meal prep service A Good Human, brisket and pulled pork joint Hoboken Eddie’s BBQ and Privateers Land & Sea, which specializes in casual seafood.

Folks can order to-go food from any of these concepts through Foodie Labs’ QR code and pick-up window, or place online orders directly through thefoodielabs.menu. There’s no dining area where customers can eat their meals inside of the building.
Food from each of The Foodie Labs’ six concepts are also available for delivery within a five-mile radius of the Warehouse Arts District, and no one will judge you if you order a spread of breakfast sandwiches, Mediterranean chopped salads, smoked chicken wings, lobster rolls, fried Oreos and queso-birria Cuban sandwiches all for yourself.

When asked how she and Pachence decided on their handful of clients out of a sea of applicants, Zelinsky said they had to be careful to choose concepts that didn’t overlap in menu items.

“When we started our application process, we really wanted to look for folks that have worked in the local restaurant industry for a while and were looking to start their own concept, ” Zelinsky says. “Or current business owners that were trying to branch out and try something new.”

The Foodie Labs hosted one of its first private events last week. Credit: Courtesy of The Foodie Labs

Currently, The Foodie Labs has space for one more tenant in its virtual food hall, and is also taking applications for its shared commercial kitchen, which is open 24 hours a day. Local businesses utilizing the Lab’s shared kitchen space includes sourdough slinger Nosh Bake, Pachence’s spice business Serious Foodie, and personal chef service Cook. Bake. Nourish., alongside a few others.

Small business owners that use its commercial kitchen pay about $1,000 for a minimum of 25 hours a month, while ghost kitchens pay one lump fee of $7,500 a month.

Foodies Labs’ massive warehouse space also connects to the Pinellas Trail, and its owners are looking to hire a beverage-focused business to serve thirsty bikers out of a standalone building next to the trail.

Each one of the ghost kitchens can also host one event per month, in addition to having access to its mentorship program, where skills like food photography and videography and education about certifications, permits and licensing are taught from The Foodie Labs’ managing team.

“Each one of our clients have access to our mentorship program,” says Zelinksy. “Between Jim, myself and Events and Marketing Director Anna Stebbins, we each have our own specialty where we can help the individual ghost kitchens grow.”

In January, the culinary hub launches its weekly Friday night food market, where all vendors will be Foodie Labs tenants. Zelinksy says she wants patrons to be able to walk in with a cooler bag and “leave with produce, fresh cut meats, sourdough bread, desserts, spreads, sauces and dinner from one of the ghost kitchens.”

And while the flagship location of The Foodie Labs celebrates its grand opening in St. Pete this week, Zelinsky says she already has expansion on her mind. She operates another commercial kitchen in South Tampa and can see the Foodie Labs business model—one that celebrates the connection between food, science and art—thriving across the bridge, too.

“Food can be art, and there’s also a lot of science that goes into recipe testing and cooking—so when we were designing our logo and all of our marketing content we really wanted to communicate the connection between all three of those concepts,” she explains.

For the latest news on The Foodie Labs’ tenants, events and future culinary markets, head to its Instagram at @foodielabs.stpete. Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.