Spice Happenings - Bhutan House Restaurant is OCA Recommended Bhutanese Restaurant
Bhutan House Restaurant is OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans) Utah Director's Choice Recommended Bhutanese Restaurant.
Gather around the table for Prime Corn!
Wendy Juarez is creating opportunities to bring vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores together for authentic Mexican cuisine! Wendy's small business, Prime Corn, won the top prize at this year’s New American Dream Lab, an event hosted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City giving local refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their businesses and win a capital prize! Wendy, an entrepreneur participating in Spice Kitchen Incubator, keeps the focus of Prime Corn simple, specializing in 90% corn-based dishes, and 100% vegan and vegetarian-friendly foods. In Wendy’s words, people who eat meat have prime rib, why can’t vegetarians have prime corn?
Spice Happenings - New Cohort Begins for 2022
January & February, 2022
New Cohort Begins
Spice Kitchen Incubator kicked off the new year by enrolling its sixteenth cohort of entrepreneurs! Once through Pre-Incubation and into Incubation, this group of business owners plan to share family recipes and traditions from Iraq, Burma, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, and others are excited to specialize in rich cakes and even dog food!
Spice Kitchen Incubator Entrepreneur Highlights 2021
January, 2022
Spice Kitchen enrolled nine new Pre-Incubation participants in 2021 and supported a total 52 participants representing 27 different countries and regions in a variety of business models; catering, food trucks, restaurants, and frozen and ready-to-eat packaged products.
2021 saw the launch or relaunch of six new businesses, and operational businesses in Incubation earned a cumulative gross income of over $250,000 in 2021 across more than 300 market opportunities.
Spice Happenings - Spice entrepreneur takes on social media
“Don't even ask an Iraqi this question,” Ali Amry says in response to whether he enjoys cooking. “All Iraqis love to cook and love to eat. And what I am not good at cooking, my wife is excellent at.” Ali’s wife, Ahed, is also his business partner at Rahma: Arabian Night Cuisine, their business which they are launching with Spice Kitchen Incubator.
Ali, who is from Baghdad, spent time at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq while he worked for the U.S. Army as a mechanical engineer. He also accumulated a great deal of food knowledge while he simultaneously worked at the embassy kitchen. The problem? While he had reliable customers preparing food at the Embassy, he does not have a customer base here in Utah. His solution is to educate himself as much as possible. Between various classes offered by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City, including the recent social media marketing workshop series, he has gathered several tips and tricks.
Spice Happenings - Entrepreneurs Prepare for Greater Reach of Products
Due to the ever-changing COVID-19 regulations, many food entrepreneurs are exploring new avenues to reach customers. Several entrepreneurs in the Spice Kitchen Incubator program are developing packaged products to pitch to retailers, restaurants, and e-commerce sites.
Spice Happenings - Noor and his family become U.S. citizens
Noor is a 45-year-old chef and the father of five. He and his family fled war-torn Syria to seek refuge in Egypt before they resettled as refugees to the United States with support from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City. He says one of the benefits of living here is that children with disabilities can still attend school, including three of his children who live with disabilities. Finally, five years and seven months later, after waiting and studying, Noor and his family are becoming citizens.
Sundance Institute Summer Film Series
The buzz around the Sundance Film Festival each January is huge, but what about the summer film screenings? With the Summer Film Series, movie buffs can watch both new and classic Sundance films at Red Butte Garden on summer evenings.