FAQ

Working from a flexible commercial kitchen allows food entrepreneurs to:

Avoid:

1. Large costs associated with long term leasing.
2. Guarantees involved in leasing. 
3. Costly and lengthy build outs of a full  kitchen.
4. Full range and cost of facility maintenance.
5. Utility costs, pest control, security, equipment maintenance and garbage removal.

Benefit From:

1. Cooking/baking and ability to scale production.
2. Access to other food entrepreneurs, chefs, influencers, and industry professionals.
3. A place where you can exchange advice and ideas with other like-minded businesses, seek guidance from industry experts, build collaborations, share resources, have access to staff sharing and business opportunities.
4. Participate in educational and networking events (e.terra Kitchen has programs and events year round to help our members thrive).
5. Direct access to experienced food service experts and consultants.
6. Business opportunities that including catering and vending opportunities as well as other collaborations.
7. Assistance with marketing and social media to drive further awareness to your business and product/service.
8. Mentorship, advisory assistance from e.terra and its non-profit, government and educational partners.

e.terra kitchens are fully equipped with commercial-grade equipment including:

• Ovens, stoves, tilt skillets, fryer, and specialty ovens to cooling equipment such as walk in refrigerators and freezers as well as blast chillers.
• Tabletop electronic equipment such as Robot Coups, immersion blenders, scales, griddles, etc.
• Large stand mixers and specialty equipment such as ice cream/gelato machines, dough sheeter, proofers and more.
• Multiple prep tables, utility carts, sheet racks, metro racks and cages for prepping, loading, unloading and storing.
• Co-working tables for office work, meetings and tastings.

Yes, e.terra Kitchens offers dry, cold and freezer storage; tailored to the amount you need to store.

Both locations of e.terra Kitchen are available for members 24/7.

Call or email us to set up a tour of the kitchen and we can answer all your questions when we meet, providing you with a link to our member application to start the process! Easy!

Yes! We are glad to answer your questions along the way and further connect you with guidance counselors from the NYS Dept of Small Business Services who can walk you through the incorporation and permitting process step by step. 

No, NYS mandates the use of only NYS issued food handlers and so you will need to complete the classwork and take the test for this food handlers certificate to work in any commercial kitchen within NYS.

It will depend on the type of work you do and product you sell. Catering operations require DOH inspection and permitting. Other products such as consumer packaged goods are generally overseen and inspected by Dept of Agriculture and Markets. We can provide the necessary information to help you determine which permit/license you may need and how to apply during onboarding.

Your permit is valid for a year and must be renewed every year after. It is only valid for your business located at e.terra.  If you stop renting from e.terra, you will have to reapply with your new commercial kitchen location to stay fully compliant with DOH regulations.

The Health Department requires one team member for each individual business to have one at all times during production in the kitchen. We will provide you with a link to sign up for classes during the application process and after completion, you will be able to sign up for a test date.

Since we are a flexible commercial kitchen and provide customized solutions to individual business needs, we have several pricing options:

• One time rental
• Member rentals
• Overnight rentals

We can discuss pricing and usage that is best suited for your business needs during the kitchen tour.

There is no maximum number of hours. The minimum requirement is 20 hours per month and a four-hour shift on any given day.

Yes, members and non-members can rent the private kitchen at 2191 (4th floor) for culinary events.  There is a guest count limit of 25.  Please speak to an e.terra team member to inquire for more details.