In the Limelight: Kieran's Kitchen
We recently spent a day visiting with our friends at the FOOD BUILDING to learn about what they do and the importance of local food production. We left feeling enlightened, inspired, and motivated. Read on to discover a little bit about the (food) magic happening right here in Northeast.
When Kieran Folliard bought the building at 1401 Marshal Street back in 2013, it lacked electricity, plumbing, and even a roof. What it did have was four walls and a location in a great neighborhood that Folliard believed in. The FOOD BUILDING was inspired by an observation that Folliard and collaborator Mike Phillips had made together; They noticed that raw materials were being grown in Minnesota but were being sent to other states to be processed, and then were being sent back to Minnesota. This conflict led to Folliard and Phillips founding the FOOD BUILDING. In addition to production spaces the FOOD BUILDING also includes a café and event spaces, where the creations of the makers in the building are highlighted in delicious combinations. For this issue of the Carrot, we got a chance to sit down with all the makers in the FOOD BUILDING and learn about them and their products.
Folliard himself grew up on a farm in Ireland, and spent his childhood working in his family’s garden, and
enjoying his mother's baked goods. The combination of his life experience and passion for craft led to
the FOOD BUILDING you see today. Folliard's favorite part of his role at the FOOD BUILDING is the
creativity he has, and the creative people he gets to work with.
Kieran’s Kitchen & Market
Kieran’s Kitchen assembles all the distinct flavors found in the FOOD BUILDING into a café, deli, and events menu open to the public. Kieran’s Kitchen & Market also includes a neighborhood market where individual offerings from the FOOD BUILDING’s makers can be purchased. If you haven’t yet visited the FOOD BUILDING, General Manager, Erin O’Neil, highly encourages you to take some time to explore. Before Katie Shepherd, who works on the event sales & management side, worked at the FOOD BUILDING, she didn’t know it was open to the public, and this is one of the points she wants to make clear to as many people as possible. Patrons are welcome to take a self-guided or a Katie-guided tour of the FOOD BUILDING during its business hours and enjoy a meal or snack in the café. Kieran’s Kitchen chef Micah Lemmens shares that he loves Kieran’s Kitchen and the FOOD BUILDING because of the extensive access to fresh and local products that are made within the same four walls as the kitchen. This is a very unique setup- most restaurants do not get the vast majority of their products made in house. Through a conversation with O’Neil, Shepherd and Lemmens, they all strongly emphasized the unique nature of the FOOD BUILDING, and why it’s such a special place. The FOOD BUILDING is fully bookable for events or meetings and can be booked at foodbuilding.com. The FOOD BUILDING is open Tues-Thurs 8am-6:30pm, Friday 8am-6:30pm, Saturday 11am-6:30pm, and Sunday 8am-4pm.
