Tag: food

Categories
Business News

Dojo Gelato business exceeding expectations, production increased 32%

[This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier on July 19, 2010. Visit the original story for more comments, thoughts and opinions on Dojo Gelato’s success at Findlay Market – Randy.]


Michael Christner moved to Cincinnati from Austin, TX last year and opened Dojo Gelato at Cincinnati’s historic Findlay Market. Christner expected business might be good due to the limited amount of competition in Cincinnati relative to Austin, but so far business has exceeded expectations for local entrepreneur.

Christner follows a few basic principles in his gelato prep kitchen which he refers to as a “laboratory.” He makes the gelato and sorbetto fresh and in small runs with no artificial ingredients. Milk, pure cane sugar, and cream is all that is used to create their gelatos, while the sorbettos only contain fruit, pure cane sugar, and water. Customers will also find a product free of artificial preservatives, unnatural stabilizers, powders or gels, or hormone dairy products.

“I’ve been like wow, this is working…it’s really working,” Christner said about Dojo Gelato’s success thus far. “When I opened, the Dojo Cart wasn’t even budgeted into the business plan, but we always thought it would be great to do five or six special events a year. With business being so good, the cart has become reality much quicker.”

The quicker arrival of the DojoCart now serving people at special events throughout Cincinnati is not the only mark of success for the Italian-style ice cream maker. Christner says that Dojo Gelato has also increased production, grown its staff, while also increasing sales.

So far sales at Dojo Gelato’s store at Findlay Market and the new DojoCart are 16% higher than what was originally forecasted, and in May, Dojo Gelato set two consecutive sales records at Findlay Market. The business growth has also accelerated plans for increased production. In March, Dojo Gelato purchased an additional gelato batch freezer from Italy that allows Christner to now produce 52 gallons of gelati an hour which represents a 32% increase in production since the business opened in August 2009. During that same time the staff has increased from one employee in last summer, to five employees today.

“It’s been a gradual incline, with every month being a little better than the month before,” Christner explained. “I take my product very seriously, but at the end of the day it’s just food and it’s more about bringing people together.”

According to Christner, Dojo Gelato customers represent a wide variety of people together that includes a business and neighborhood crowd during the week at lunch; older individuals, tourists, and suburbanites on the weekends; and lots of families on Sundays. Young adults between the ages of 20 to 40 are also a big part of Dojo Gelato’s daily business.

“I wanted to do this since I was 20 years old, and I’m 34 now. This is not just some hobby, I live, eat, and breathe everything Dojo Gelato,” Christner emphasized. “I’ve realized that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and everything needs to fall into place for future expansion efforts.”

Dojo Gelato is open at Findlay Market (map) Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 6pm, Saturday from 8am to 6pm, and Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Those out and about can find the DojoCart at the Wyoming Farmers Market on Tuesdays, Wednesdays at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center for their summer concert series through July, Saturdays on Fountain Square for movie nights, and at the Hyde Park Farmers Market every Sunday.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Free screening of Food, Inc. at Main Library – 7/20

The main branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County will be screening the award-winning and eye-opening documentary Food, Inc. on Tuesday, July 20th at 7pm. The film is second in the library’s Reel to Reel documentary series. Each of the three films to be screened includes a time for community discussion after the film.

Food, Inc. is a documentary, released in 2008, that takes a critical look at the corporate farming industry and investigates farming and food processing practices that are a direct result of increased food production due to the fast food industry. Those interested in learning more about where our food comes from and how to change their eating habits and lifestyle will benefit from watching this film.

The screening of Food, Inc. will take place Tuesday, July 20 at 7pm in the Heunefeld Tower Room of the Main Library (map).  The event is free and open to the public.  Free on-street automobile parking, bicycle parking, and Metro bus service (plan your trip) is available.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Venue 222 to show The Maltese Falcon – 7/11

Venue 222 will be hosting its second movie night on Sunday, July 11 from 6pm to 10pm. The urban event space will be showing the 1941 adaptation of The Maltese Falcon which is based on the detective novel written by Dashiell Hammett. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time.

To compliment the film, Fork Heart Knife will be preparing 1940’s style food that will include Bacon Wrapped, Manchego Stuffed Dates; Chimichurri Chicken Skewers; Peppadew Deviled Eggs; Bloody Mary Gazpacho; Blueberry Lavender Jello Mold; and Mini-Brown Butter Sugar Cookies.

The film showing will take place at Venue 222 (map) and does require reservations as space is limited. The event costs $6 per person and reservations can be made online.

Categories
Business Development News

Park+Vine relocating to larger space, adding full vegan grocery store

One of Over-the-Rhine’s most popular stores, Park+Vine, will be relocating to a new larger space this fall. Dan Korman announced today that the green general store will move from its original location at 1109 Vine Street to a larger space at 1202 Main Street (two blocks east) in late September 2010.

The move will finally give Park+Vine room to expand and begin offering more food products than their current space would allow. The new 2,881 square-foot space at The Belmain gives the store an additional 1,100 square feet of space to work with.

The additional space will reportedly be used to create a full vegan grocery store that will offer bulk grains, local produce, bulk cleaning supplies, and a food bar with Fab Ferments Kombucha, fresh pressed juices and single-cup drip coffee and espresso from La Terza. The new store will also include a book wall, indoor and outdoor seating areas, bicycle parking, and a separate room for Park+Vine’s popular classes.

Park+Vine celebrated its third anniversary earlier this month and has long eyed expansion either at its current location, or somewhere else in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

The new location also fits with Park+Vine’s environmentally sustainable ethos in addition to offering up extra square footage. The Belmain, developed by Cincinnati-based Urban Sites, was awarded LEED Silver certification for its sustainable building features and construction practices.

Greg Olson of Urban Sites said, “Park + Vine is exactly the type of retail business meant for the LEED Certified Silver Belmain Building,” exclaimed Greg Olsen, COO of Urban Sites. “It will help us turn the corner and bring sustained economic vitality to one of Cincinnati’s finest commercial streets.”

Korman is also excited about being a part of the resurgence taking place along Main Street in Over-the-Rhine which has brought new commercial tenants like Neon’s Unplugged, JackPotts Tavern, forkheartknife, Atomic Number 10, Original Thought Required, and You Do Yoga to the area recently.

“This is a beautiful and culturally alive area–full of people who see potential in every corner of the neighborhood and are doing something about it,” Korman stated in a media release. “It’s an ideal place for budding entrepreneurs.”

The new Park+Vine location (map) is expected to celebrate a grand opening during the Midpoint Music Festival which takes place between September 23-25, 2010.

Categories
Business News Politics

Cincinnati City Council approves new mobile food vendor program

Cincinnati’s City Council this afternoon approved the Mobile Food Vendor Pilot Program, as proposed by Councilmember Laure Quinlivan, by a 7-1 margin. Councilmember Leslie Ghiz (R) was the lone dissenting vote, while Councilmember Bortz (C) was not present.  The vote comes a day after City Council’s Quality of Life Committee voted to pass the measure after a long discussion that included public comment.

Members from the Cincinnati Food Truck Alliance including Senor Roy’s Taco Patrol and Cafe de Wheels, as well as relative newcomer, New Orleans To Go, came in support of mobile food vendors as an indicator of a healthy, vibrant city. Senor Roy himself gave three points as a reason to support the mobile food movement:

  1. Food trucks open in lots during late hours support the downtown community and their presence makes the area safer by populating an otherwise empty space with people, which is seen as a great safety measure.
  2. Cincinnati joining the national mobile food movement  creates attention for the area and attracts press.
  3. Venture capital is hard to come by, and mobile vendors allow brick and mortar companies to expand at a fraction of the cost.

The one concern brought up at the Quality of Life Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 22nd involved possible noise concerns from downtown residents. However, as Tom Acito of Cafe de Wheels put it, “It’s impossible to know if there would be a problem or not if we don’t try. We’ve got to move ahead.” After some debate, the 6th & Race location has now been moved from 6th Street to the other end of the parking lot to 5th Street to accommodate those concerns.

Starting Monday, June 28th, there will be three locations at which mobile food vendors – carts or trucks selling non-alcoholic beverages and ready-to-eat foods – will be able to use in the Downtown Business District on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Permits for the public locations will cost between $400-800 depending upon location and size of the truck, and vendors will be able to operate from 6am to 3:30am seven days a week.  The three public locations included in the Mobile Food Vendor Pilot Program include:

  • Sawyer Point – 1-2 spaces east of the Purple People Bridge
  • Court Street Market – 6 spaces on the south side of Court Street at Vine Street heading east. This is the only zone with electric service, 110 volt/20 amps. No heat lamp or grills supported.
  • 5th & Race Parking Lot – 12 spaces on southeast end of lot, along Race Street. Vendors must enter and exit using the 6th Street gate.

The first 20 vendors to sign up beginning the morning of Thursday, June 24th at 9am will receive Revocable Street Privileges that grants them access to any of the three locations. Policy makers say that this permit will keep vendors accountable, and will ensure that the locations are not overbooked.

“The pricing is very fair compared with what is being charged at private lots, and we still have the right to go to any private lot of our choice,” stated Gary Sims, owner, Taco Azul. “We will learn as we go, but as long as City Council is willing to adjust it will be good, and as far as I’m concerned it’s a good pilot program.”

The City appears to be setting the stage to do just that as they have planned to review the pilot program in October 2010 to examine progress and make any necessary adjustments.  While the program provides these additional public locations for mobile food vendors to locate, it does not remove the ability for mobile food vendors to locate on private property as they do presently.

Stay up-to-speed on the whereabouts of Cincinnati’s growing number of food trucks by following UrbanCincy’s comprehensive Twitter list.