“If it makes Columbus taste better, we’re going to do it.”
This is how Kate Djupe, founder of The Commissary, describes the mission of her decade-in-the-making commercial kitchen/event space for the central Ohio food and drink community. She’s partnered with Steve Concilla, former owner of That Food Truck, to offer the space for classes, events, collaborations and more to help promote the culinary scene in central Ohio.
The Commissary will not only be a fantastic spot to help build the local culinary scene, but it will also be home to The Actual Brewing Company’s pilot brewing system, Amelia Beerhart. The pilot brewing system will allow Actual to produce one-off beers and collaborate with other food and drink makers as well as teach classes on brewing in the Experimental Brewing Space.
“We’ll be regularly featuring pop-ups, and the restaurants and food trucks will have the opportunity to pair their meals with local beers or cocktails,” explained Djupe. “There could even be room to collaborate with Actual to brew their own beer for their events. It’s all about collaboration and showcasing the local food and drink community.”
Restaurants and chefs will be able to collaborate with the Actual team to brew their own beer, and homebrewers and beer enthusiasts will be able to take advantage of the system, too. Homebrewers can rent the system to brew in the 20 gallon pilot brewing system, and novices can pay to have Actual teach them how to brew.
“Our primary mission is to support the small businesses of Columbus as much as possible,” said Djupe. “We want to give them the space and materials to help make their businesses better so that they can focus on what they do best. The Commissary is a collaborative space where the central Ohio food and drink community can grow together.”
Some of the ideas that Djupe has for the space include mixology classes, beer pairing dinners, wine dinners and tastings. Dinners with Chef Handke of Handke’s Cuisine will include cooking classes with notes on pairing wines. Speakeasies and beer, wine and cocktail dinners are welcome. Djupe and Concilla’s goal is to change the way that Columbus eats.
While The Commissary promises to support the local culinary and beer scenes, it doesn’t stop there.
“Local bartenders are incredibly excited to use our space and equipment to create syrups to be featured in their cocktails,” said Djupe. “If all goes well, you may be tasting cocktails with ingredients created at The Commissary as soon as August.”
You can support The Commissary through this Kickstarter campaign and get some fantastic rewards to go with it. In addition to stickers, T-shirts and engraved wooden spoons on the wall, at the $405+ level you get a chance to brew beer with The Actual Brewing Company and seven of your beer-loving friends. Plenty of great food and drink rewards are offered at all levels.
