Place a carryout order at one of Baltimore’s newest restaurants and you might be surprised when you end up in the parking lot of a defunct college in Little Italy.
One customer called it an “abandoned building” on TikTok, said business owner Tyra Myricks.
“It’s not an abandoned building!” Myricks emphasized. “It’s the old Stratford University.”
In fact, it’s a culinary hub.
The former culinary school is now a shared commercial kitchen space called La Chow. The once-vacant campus, which occupies a full city block at the intersection of South Central Avenue and East Pratt Street, is now home to more than a dozen restaurants and other food service companies, according to La Chow founder Brandon Phillips. “I call it a true incubator space for fostering and growing and developing businesses,” he said.
Among them are Myrick’s concept, Waiting to Oxtail, which serves decadent ramen and other dishes with a spotlight on oxtail. Customers drive from Delaware or Virginia, enticed by the business’ strong backing on social media and the promise of good food.
Read More
Myrick’s neighbors in the old brick building include the vegan spot Oleum, which, like Waiting to Oxtail, is a ghost kitchen. That means customers can’t eat the food at a table in a restaurant, and instead either need to order it for delivery or come pick it up at the old school entrance. Many of the eateries rely on their social media and word of mouth to get the word out, and some have quickly built passionate followings.
Oleum owner Alisha Adibe said one customer, a truck driver, comes to her restaurant every day that it’s open. She and her staff joke that if he doesn’t come one day, they’ll send a search party.
Adibe launched her business in Baltimore around eight weeks ago after moving here from Japan, where her husband was stationed with the military. She credits La Chow with allowing her globally inspired vegan comfort fare to take off.
“We’re all supportive of each other in here, and I could not have asked for a better kitchen,” Adibe said. Best of all: Her space has a window looking out on the city, an amenity lacking in most commercial facilities. “I cannot deal with dungeon kitchens,” she said.
Customers who order from the restaurants at La Chow are often scratching their heads when they come to get their food. The parking lot is enclosed by a chain-link fence. To help out customers confused by the location, Myricks posted detailed instructions to her business’ Instagram account of how to access it.
For those that get the hang of the quirky pickup system — or just get it delivered to their homes — deliciousness awaits.
When bakers Yassmeen Haskins and Amber Croom launched a new concept called Beye Beignets, they decided “La Chow was a perfect way for us to grow and expand our business,” said Haskins.
La Chow’s well-equipped kitchen, which came with mixers and a commercial-grade dough sheeter, has allowed them to produce at a level far and above what they could prepare by hand. It allowed Haskins and Croom, who together won Season 2 of the Fox cooking competition show “Crime Scene Kitchen,” to recently set up shop at a festival with 10,000 attendees — their biggest event ever.
They love the vibe, too. Both went to culinary school, and Croom said it’s “pretty nostalgic” for them to be in the location, with its marble slab for chocolate making and other baking gadgets and appliances.
Between Stratford’s abrupt closure in 2022 and La Chow’s opening in November of 2023, the building was “trashed,” Phillips said. He gave it a good cleaning and shredded documents in the space, but there are plenty of reminders of the previous school, including a library stocked with old cookbooks and a wall full of lockers in the basement.
Phillips said there are plans to eventually put an apartment building in place of the property, which is owned by an LLC. But until that happens, La Chow is offering business owners a platform to get off the ground.
The cost of rent sealed the deal for Adibe. With prices starting at $1,250 per month to rent out a space three days a week, she didn’t need to take on investors to cover high operating costs and was able to get right to work.
The Oleum owner eventually wants to open a sit-down restaurant with multiple locations. She has considered other locations for her eatery, including spaces on Hampden’s Avenue, and is kicking the tires on a spot at Harborplace. But at least for now, she’s sticking with La Chow, which allows her more flexibility and security than a long-term lease.
“Restaurants are risky,” she said. “I don’t want to put myself in a financial bind at the very beginning.”
In addition to kitchen rentals, Phillips and La Chow offer business support to their clients, helping them to navigate health permits and keep their costs down. Phillips holds regular food drives for members of the community and hopes to offer classes to students in the area.
“He’s giving small businesses a chance to thrive,” Myricks said.
