Community kitchen makes recovery after devastating fire

Mithalee Rawat, chef and owner of Shorba Bone Broth, thought she lost everything when the first location of Green Coast Commissary Kitchen — a kitchen shared by multiple businesses — burnt down almost a year ago.

Shortly after the fire, she and the owners of the commissary took a chance on a new location on Pandora Street, and now business is looking better than ever

“When the fire happened, I thought maybe this is a sign I should just quit,” Rawat said.

“But luckily I got bigger signs in the form of support from my community to keep going.”

When the fire swept through the first commissary kitchen at 547 East Hastings, it was home to 9 local food businesses. All of them lost all their equipment and food inventory.

“I lost about $20,000 worth of material,” Rawat said.

“It was a really trying time, and I considered quitting my business, because it is already a challenging business to be in and insurance wouldn’t cover any of us.”

Kelly McKenzie, the owner of of the kitchen, says the new location was needed.

“We were a bit cramped in our old space,” McKenzie said.

“There was a lot more crime around there, and it was an older part of the city,” she said. “So it was a tough spot to be in, but maybe a blessing in disguise.”

Despite the loss and financial burden, Rawat says the new location has allowed for better opportunities.

“We moved into this new space that has a lot more permits than in the previous space,” she said.

“So I was able to get bigger accounts with Whole Foods Canada — which is my dream account — and recently we got into Safeway and Thrifty Foods. So that has been a huge win!”