1. Community Kitchen
Making Food, Entrepreneurs and Jobs
Downtown
Bridgeton, New Jersey Culinary District
Carola Lillie Hartley, Executive Director
Bridgeton Main Street

3. Bridgeton (NJ) Culinary
District
Created in 2009 by
the Bridgeton City
Council with help
from Bridgeton Main
Street
A four square block
area in the heart of
downtown Bridgeton.
The Culinary District is the center of the
largest historic district in New Jersey and
one of the largest districts in the US.

4. Why a Culinary District
 Downtown revitalization
 Create a niche
 Help unite a very diverse group of
downtown storeowners, property
owners and residents
◦ Food is a “great connector”
 Draw more South Jersey area people
into downtown

5. Make Downtown Bridgeton a
Destination
 Focus on Food and anything to do
with it
◦ Food stores
◦ Restaurants and food service businesses
◦ Gourmet stores, coffee shops, tea rooms,
ice cream parlors, wine/liquor stores,
cheese etc.
◦ Stores that sell kitchen wares, appliances,
table settings, etc.
 We don’t all need to shop
We ALL need to EAT

6. Culinary District
Branding
The district has the following component

7. Culinary District Pocket Park
 Culinary District Pocket Park –The
park with a mural will have an herb
garden to be planted in the Spring of
2012.

8. Culinary
District Park
Lots of hard work
and over $175,000
of donations

9. Park and Mural Dedication
October 16, 2011

10. Tables and Chairs for Outside
Dining at restaurants and
downtown parks
Table and Chairs with Green Umbrellas are offered to
downtown eating establishments to encourage outdoor dining

11. Bridgeton Bazaar in the
Culinary District
 Vendor Park and Bazaar on other
vacant lots in downtown
In Planning Stage

12. Food Festivals, Events and
Activities
Bridgeton Food Film Fest
 A gala movie/dinner/cooking
demonstration night
 Fundraiser for Bridgeton Main
Street
Promotes the Culinary Arts, food
history and ethnic diversity
agendas
of the wider redevelopment vision
for Bridgeton’s downtown

13. Food Festivals, Events and
Activities
Fridays June through August
Mill Creek Unban Farm
sells produce at the
Bridgeton Main Street
organized Outdoor Market

14. Food
Festivals
 Cinco de Mayo
Cultural Festival in
the Culinary
District

15. Food Festivals
 Bridgeton Crab Fest in
downtown as part of the
Cohansey Riverfest
Last Saturday every August

16. Culinary District Lunch Fest
at the Park
In Planning Stage for Fridays in April & October
 Hour long music concert
at noon until 1PM.
 Concert schedule printed
on brown paper bags
 Bags given to all
downtown restaurants
and food service
businesses
 Public invited to pick up a
brown paper bag lunch
from a downtown Promotes the Culinary District,
restaurant the historic downtown, the
 Lunch in the park while restaurants and local/area
enjoying great music. performing artists.

17. Cumberland County Culinary
Stars
 A partnership of Bridgeton Main Street
with
◦ Gateway Community Action Partnership,
◦ Rutgers Food Innovation Center,
◦ Rutgers Cousteau Center at Bridgeton,
◦ Cumberland County College,
◦ Cumberland County Technical Education
Center,
◦ City of Bridgeton,
◦ Cumberland County Empowerment Zone,

18. Rutgers Food Innovation
Center
Serves not only clients regionally-but nationally and internationally
as well
Contact: 450 East Broad St., Bridgeton, NJ
08302

19. Rutgers Cousteau Center
at Bridgeton
Located in a
restored 1790s
building in
Bridgeton’s Culinary
The Cousteau Center
District in the heart
at Bridgeton is very
of the historic
involved in the Oyster
downtown
Restoration Project.
Other programs at the Cousteau Center bring science-based
information to enrich education and inform management of coastal
resources in south Jersey. Formal and informal education and
training programs address local and regional concerns for
sustainable economic development and conservation of the
environment and coastal resources in Cumberland County.

20. Mill Creek Urban Farm at
Bridgeton
 Located less than ½ mile from
downtown
 Farm sits on four acres
◦ Land once was a housing complex,
demolished in 2006.
◦ Sat open and vacant for years because
it was too soft to build upon, the former
buildings had been sinking a little each
year.
 Earth Boxes used to grow tomatoes,
peppers, eggplant, butternut squash,
a variety of lettuces, spinach, kale,
collards, mustard greens, beets, and
more - if you can think of it, it's
probably growing at Mill Creek.
Mill Creek Urban Farm sells produce at the
Bridgeton Outdoor Market in the Culinary District.

21. Cumberland County Culinary
Stars
Programs include:
 Heritage Cooking
Demonstrations and Classes
Local area chefs
demonstrate and teach
their own style of heritage
cooking.

22. Cumberland County Culinary
Stars
 Safe With a Smile Food Safety &
Hospitality Training

23. Cumberland County Culinary
Stars
Bridgeton Culinary Marketplace: A retail
incubator for food related businesses to
serve as a springboard for aspiring
entrepreneurs looking to serve the local
food service industry.
In planning stage

24. In Process
A centralized food preparation
center designed to be employed
by a variety of community entities.
This program is seeking funding currently for fit
out.

25. Why a Co-op or
Community Kitchen
 Serve as a catalyst to the revitalization
of downtown Bridgeton
 Help to establish the Culinary District
in downtown Bridgeton as a
destination
 Attract entrepreneurs of all levels to
the restaurant and food service
industry Bridgeton is building
◦ Help to develop entrepreneurs for the
Rutgers Food Innovation Center

26. Community (Co-op) Kitchen
 Provide much need commercial
kitchen space to local/area caterers,
food based home businesses and
upcoming entrepreneurs
 Provide training for food related
businesses

27. Community (Co-op)
Kitchen
 Also allows access to business
ownership in underserved
communities
 Can serve as an entry point back into
the workforce for many
◦ Provide training to these individuals
 Provides a “sense of community” in
downtown
 Draws more people into downtown
creating much needed foot traffic.

28. Plans call for:
 Commercial kitchen on first floor
 Retail store and shop in storefront
 Space for teaching classrooms
&

29. For INFORMATION