MESA, A Collaborative Kitchen, 216 Pearl St, in New Albany recently launched two new programs at its high-end studio kitchen: an incubator program for start-up businesses and catering from MESA chefs.  

The incubator program allows aspiring chefs and business owners to rent MESA’s kitchen space for catering, menu development and pre-restaurant launch events. This helps entrepreneurs test the waters, generate buzz and build a customer base.

Jenny Watson from The Elderberry Co. is MESA’s first incubator partner. The partnership allows Jenny to use MESA’s facilities as an incubator on certain days to create her homemade elderberry products, which she then distributes to stores or has people pick up at MESA.

“This is perfect. She loves it. Her business is growing,” said Co-owner Bobby Bass. “And it gives the kitchen some movement when we normally have none, because our shows are usually at night.”

Mesa offers the incubator service on a case by case basis. Some clients rent at an hourly fee while others rent for a monthly flat fee. Owners Bobby and Ysha Bass are currently working out the details with a restaurant who plans to use the space on weekdays, and they are looking for one more tenant who wants to use the space on the weekends.

“We’re pretty open as long as we believe in the person and the product,” he said. “But the more you use the space, the better the rate.”

Businesses and groups can also now have the MESA experience catered for lunch or dinner. Customized menus are developed by talented chefs based on budget and food preferences. Perfect for the upcoming holiday season!

Catering is brokered by MESA. Interested parties can contact MESA and tell them what type of food they like and how many people they need to feed.  MESA will work with a the Chef they think is the best fit to build a custom menu proposal that the client can customize with them.

“The catering would have quite a bit more flare and options than a typical caterer,” said Bass.

Those interested in the incubator program or catering can email info@mesachefs.com or call 812.725.7691.