Our Story
Andrea Abedi
Hilary Kilpatric
The Kitchen Table Santa Fe
About Us
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The Kitchen Table Santa Fe is the creation of two local Santa Feans and long time friends, who returned to their hometown to build something that will serve the community.
Andrea Abedi is a private chef and caterer who studied at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and trained with famed Chef Charlie Trotter in Chicago. She was also co-founder of Rasa Juice bar in Santa Fe which was highly recognized among local foodies.
Hilary Kilpatric is an international social entrepreneur with a BA in Business Economics, a CPA license, and an MA in International Relations. She has worked building and scaling artisan businesses around the world for the past 15 years and now brings this business and financial expertise to this project.
The two met while attending Santa Fe High School and are now back in Santa Fe where they created The Kitchen Table Santa Fe designed to be at the heart of the Santa Fe Food Community.
In September 2023 Andrea Duran joined the team as the Operations Manager. She was born in New Mexico and has lived and worked in Vermont, Illinois, and Florida, but has always come back home to New Mexico. Andrea is a well respected and active member of the food and beverage community with 15 years experience and a few awards including New Mexico Cocktail & Culture's Best Bartender award.
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In 2017 Andrea came up with the idea of building a commercial kitchen because she needed a place to cook for her private chef and catering business, The Temptress. In 2019 she participated in Biz Mix with Rachel Roode with the idea of creating a commercial kitchen in Santa Fe. The team was one of the winners of Biz Mix. This program helped Andrea to further develop the concept of the commercial kitchen.
In November 2019 Hilary joined the team to bring her business expertise. This same month the two did a deep dive retreat to map out the concept of the business including creating a mission and vision, identifying programs to offer and potential customers and creating a list of the necessary equipment.
After the deep dive, the team started to look for a building. After viewing several different spaces and talking with an angel investor, they decided to use space in the building located at 313 Camino Alire, Santa Fe, NM. This building has had a few incarnations such as Los Pinones Rehabilitation Center and Desert Academy. Based on this location, they had to work with an attorney and the City of Santa Fe to update the land use code to allow for commissary kitchens in a C-1 zone. This process involved various City Council meetings and meetings with the Land Use Department and resulted in updating the Land Use Code as of September 30, 2020. Then they had to apply for a special use permit, which again involved public hearings and meetings with the City Council. Their special use permit was issued on January 19, 2021.
Special Use Permit in hand, Hilary and Andrea began designing the remodel, sourcing and purchasing the equipment, and building the policies of the business. The team joined the NICK (National Incubator and Commercial Kitchen) Network to learn more about shared use kitchens and network with similar businesses around the country. Through this program they learned about the Food Corridor, a software application that they to use for scheduling and billing at KTSF.
Construction finally wrapped up in April 2023 and The Kitchen Table Santa Fe opened its doors in May 2023. When the Kitchen Table Santa Fe opened, they already had 15 businesses signed up to use the Kitchen. This number continues to grow as more people learn about the kitchen and form collaborations.
KTSF created a collaboration with the Santa Fe Farmers' Market Institute in 2023 to reduce food waste on local farms by freeze drying surplus products. This program allows more local food to circulate in the community, farmers to earn a year-round income and reduces food waste. The team is working to expand this program in 2024. The Kitchen Table Santa Fe was named Business of the Year by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce in 2023 and won the Innovator / Educator Local Hero Award from Edible Magazine in 2024.
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The kitchen space can be rented by up to 8 clients at a time allowing for networking and shared ideas while providing each client with a private area to create.
The Kitchen Table Santa Fe has two large walk-in refrigerators and one walk-in freezer where clients can rent dedicated space on a monthly basis. KTSF also has a large dry storage room where clients will have dedicated space to store their products.
It is centrally located, easy to access and open 24 hours per day. The hourly rates are affordable and clients can obtain discounts by purchasing a membership. Memberships require prepaying for the month and using a minimum number of hours per month.
Clients can schedule kitchen time and pay their monthly bills through an easy to use online system called the Food Corridor. The Food Corridor was built specifically for shared kitchen spaces and makes scheduling easy and convenient for the customers.
“When you have a dream, you have to grab it and never let it go.”
— Carol Burnett