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Chefs Center of California is a licensed, non-profit commercial food preparation and education facility in Pasadena, California. It aims to help small business entrepreneurs start new food-based businesses and accelerate the growth and success of existing enterprises. The Center is a program of the Episcopal Housing Alliance and Economic Development, which were created by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to foster partnerships to create affordable housing and promote community development and entrepreneurship. The Chefs Center is affiliated with Mama’s Hot Tamales Café, another project of the Episcopal Housing Alliance and Economic Development located in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Central Los Angeles.

Background and operations


The Chefs Center was conceived in 2007 by Joe Colletti, PhD., Executive Director of the Episcopal Housing Alliance and Economic Development, under the direction of J. Jon Bruno, the Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles. The Center opened in May, 2009 as Mama’s Small Business Kitchen Incubator, with $2.6 million in funding. Due to the economic recession, the facility initially struggled to find tenants but by January, 2010, more than 30 entrepreneurs had used the kitchen. Renamed the Chefs Center of California in September, 2010, the project received critical support from Broadcom Corp. Co-Founder Henry Nicholas, whose Henry T. Nicholas, III Foundation invested $1,350,000; a $425,000 forgivable loan from the Pasadena City Council toward the $1.8 million purchase of a former restaurant site; $100,000 from the Schow Foundation for interior renovation; and a $50,000 grant from the Pasadena Community Foundation to equip the facility as well as other private donations.

The Center provides 2,000 square feet of shared commercial kitchen space available for rent, with equipment that includes six-burner ranges, convection ovens, deep fryers, gas grills, a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, and dining tables and chairs. Users pay an average of $20 an hour to work out of the facility, based on a sliding scale determined by financial need. Current tenants include event caterers, specialty food companies that supply supermarkets, start-up restaurants and bakeries, on-line businesses, and Farmers Market and street vendors.4 (www.chefscenter.org). Businesses that have been successfully launched from the Center include the Texas Fajita Company, Bonnie B’s Smokin Barbeque Heaven (Best New Restaurant, BestRestaurant Staff, Pasadena Weekly), Sabrina’s Sweetery, Huntington Catering, Unified Nutrimeals, and two mobile eateries called The Flying Pig and Slammin’ Sliders.

Chef Center staff
The Center’s General Manager is Larry Bressler, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY), with a B.S. in Hotel and Restaurant management from Florida International University. He has more than 30 years experience in the food industry and currently teaches at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. The Center’s Chef Instructor is Farid Zadi, who earned his culinary degrees in Paris and is on the board of Slow Food Pan-Arab, a division of Slow Food International. He is currently writing an Algerian Cuisine book.

Educational program


Chefs Center of California, in conjunction with the Pacific Asian Consortium on Employment (PACE), offers an academic program, “Entrepreneurial Keys to Success,” coordinated by Bressler and Zadi, which includes these courses:


 * Intro to Business Plan: Defining Mission and Setting Goals
 * Market Analysis: Customers, Competition and Industry
 * Marketing: Product/Price/Place/Promotion
 * Budgeting and Cash Management. Cash Flow Projections. Break-Even

Chefs Center of California is located at 45 N. San Gabriel Blvd., Pasadena, CA. Tours are available Monday – Friday between 10 am and 3 pm. Call General Manager Chef Larry Bressler at 626.744.9995 or send an e-mail to larrybressler@chefscenter.org

Chefs Center staff

 * Joe Colleti, Founder
 * Larry Bresser, General Manager Chef
 * Farid Zadi, Chef Instructor

Chef Center alumni start up companies
Chef Center was instrumental in assisting the following companies during their start up phases:

A Little Nosh, Amanda Cushman, auntie fruf's aahsome fudge, Aunt Erma's Old Fashioned Mandel Bread, Best of the Wurst, Bonnie B's Smokin, California Harmony Market, Cookies -n- Milk, Cultured Club 101, Damn, That's Good!, Darren the Chef, Defuria Catering, Ecole de Cuisine, El Capitan's Garlic salsa, Ellelle Kitchen, Embrace Sweets, Evie's Kitchen, Flying Pig Truck, Francesca di CescaBiscotti, Gina Feeds, Green Apple Gourmet, Huntington Catering Co., Jill's Caramel Company, Josie's English Kitchen, Kibama!, Mac -n- Mo's Magical Morsels, Murphy C's Popcorn, Nana Queen's Puddin' & Wings, Macarons, Niceole, [http://www.ohmybakery.com/ Oh My! Bakery], PEtoffee, Real RochaRide or Fry, Sabrina's Sweetery, Safoa's Fare, Savvy Ranch Catering, Slamin' Sliders, Sugar Girl Cookies, Texas Fajita Co., Truly Toffee, Unified Nutrimeals, Van Dorn Gourmets, Yummy Bites,