The Commissary

A great makerspace for food and beverage startups.

I was totally psyched to finally make it here. I purchased tickets for me and my mother to come to a Chilean dinner put on by wonderful, local, TALENTED Isidora Diaz.
Lets just say, hypothetically, that is, that I was asked to pack up a bag and move to Chile tomorrow morning. With not too much knowledge about the country’s history, I would unquestionably pack a bag and move down south, based simply on this well-​represented meal I had the chance to indulge in tonight. Basically, tonite was heaven, just with a physical address!
The kitchen area is plenty big. A «prepping» side, and a cooking/​baking area. Clean. I didn’t get a chance to tour, but was told there’s large walk-​in fridges/​freezers. Food trucks have a «loading dock» area where they can load/​unload after a day slinging food to the masses. Back inside, nice, simply decorated open room that houses 3 – 4 long tables for meetings, presentations, meals, etc.
I’m elated with the many cooking-​centered classes and events put on here. All kinds of food genres are represented, and if you have an idea for an event, by all means, The Commissary would love to hear your thoughts!

If I could give The Commissary 10 stars I would. :)
I think of The Commissary as a community hangout for foodies. There are all kinds of events held throughout the month. I’ve taken cooking classes, participated in demos, been to dinners, taken part in the book club and the Columbus Knife Fight.
Most of the cooking classes are geared towards adults but there are also special cooking classes (pizza or ice cream) for youngsters and their adult chaperone. Classes are always changing so one month they may offer Chilean Sandwiches and the next how to make tofu, pasta or Thai Street Food.
For the demos you pay $ to watch a demo and give it a try yourself. There is usually an option to pay additional money towards a meal. I went to the Hollandaise sauce demo and had the dinner afterwards. The dinner was the most upscale version of eggs benedict I’ve ever had.
Each dinner I’ve attended has been different. The first was an evening-​long event and featured dishes inspired by the movie Tampopo. The second was a noodle house serving diners in shifts. The third was another evening-​long event featuring dishes inspired by various meals and foods the chef has eaten throughout his life. Each has been wonderful and given me great memories.
Digest is the name of the book club. A book is chosen for the group to read and discuss. Sometimes it’s a cookbook but it can be a memoir too. (There is a fee for the book club to pay for refreshments.) The book is often available through the cookbook (and cake pan!) library at The Commissary but is usually available through the various public libraries in town.
This month they have a Cook the Cookbook event which is one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a long time. One cookbook has been chosen (in this case it’s Every Grain of Rice) for everyone to make one recipe from and to share it with others. What a great potluck idea!
The Columbus Knife Fight is a bit like a cooking duel between two local chefs. Only you aren’t relegated to a studio audience or your living room couch. You can get up close to see what they are doing and even taste it.
There is event space for rent and the kitchens are available to book team building exercises. If there are events you want to see happen they’d be happy to take your suggestions. There isn’t a liquor license but it is BYOB.
While there you may see food truck owners prepping for the next event.
Overall, every experience at The Commissary has been great! Everyone without exception — from the volunteers, paid staff, chefs, etc. has a love of food. They are willing to share knowledge and create a unique experience.

What a wonderful idea. I sincerely hope Kate and her team gets busier and busier, because I want to come back! We were here for fReshStreet’s Japanese diner brunch and it was delicious. We walked around and viewed the spoon wall and some of the setup. Kate was so terribly friendly and welcoming! The events they’ve been hosting look so interesting, I just need to find a babysitter more often!

I feel like we should have a Unilocal Elite event here soon. At least one that involves cooking with a food truck vendor or such. Tonight I did not attend a Unilocal event but mine was for the Jewish Young Professionals division.
You ask what did we do? We learned to cook various salads and vegetarian dishes. Then I had the pleasure of filling in the fig cornocopias which was a huge hit. I was even flattered one lady came up to me and thought I was the master chef of all this and to be politically correct I steered her in the direction of the real chef. (Even though my husband imagines me being a master chef soon in life at the rate I cook at home for him.)
Well we finish up the finishing touches on the food, the Commissary has a huge kitchen area to prepare all the food and great hang out space outside with coaches and various cook books. It felt very feng shui but artsy as well.
I sit down to eat and I happen to sit next to the people that complimented me for the food at first. I learn they are with the Ohio Democratic Party and my face turns almost red because I don’t like to discuss politics in front of people because we could have very different views from one another. So I just sit there casually listening to their conversations and try to shift the whole political conversations to just thinking out of the box on other issues besides politics.
By shifting that train of thought we engaged very well and it became easier to talk to them. We discussed things like the Local Matters being there and the whole concept of farm to the table. Then I got to use some of my Unilocal knowledge on them which played out very well.
In all, if there were a good vendor or kickstarter program here I would totally come back here!