A Paul Kane graduate hopes his new storefront on Whyte will become a Hub for up-and-coming restaurants.
Peter Keith and business partner Glendon Tan opened The Hub collaborative culinary space in the historic Hub Cigar building (10345 82 Ave.) on Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue on July 5. The space aims to act as an incubator for emerging restaurants.
Keith is the co-founder of Meuwly’s restaurant and chair of the High School Culinary Challenge.
Thin profit margins plus high startup costs make it challenging for restaurants to get off the ground, Keith said. He and Tan have long sought ways to help restaurateurs collaborate and get started in the business. In recent years, that has meant hosting pop-up restaurants at Meuwly’s when they have the space.
Keith said Tan had space open at the Hub Cigar building a few months ago, and the two of them noticed there was interest among Edmonton’s restaurateurs for a shared space. The two of them decided to create such a space in The Hub starting with two businesses they were already hosting at Meuwly’s: Beb’s Bagels and Balay Coffee.
“Our goal is to build something special for the community that supports these food entrepreneurs,” Keith said.
Keith said the aim of The Hub is to act as a training ground for new restaurateurs to build their brands and gain experience before moving on to their own standalone locations. It will likely host up to four tenants at a time who will split the rent and share the kitchen, but run their own tills and set their own hours.
Opening acts
Originally from the Philippines, Balay Coffee co-founder Mavi Tolentino said their business specializes in high-quality coffee grown and roasted by Indigenous Filipino women. (“Balay” is Filipino for “home.”) They also bake traditional Filipino pastries with a western twist, such as a purple bread made with sweet yam called ube pandesal stuffed with cream cheese.
“Coffee and bagels just really go together well,” Tolentino said, so there’s a lot of synergy to working with Beb’s Bagels.
It might cost a restaurateur $10,000 a month to rent a spot on Whyte, and that’s not feasible for many, Tolentino said. They said The Hub will let them get on Whyte for a fraction of that cost so they can share their love of Filipino food with a bigger audience.
Beb’s Bagels co-founder Lindon Carter said his company got its start at St. Albert’s BreadLove back in 2021. (The name was a play on the word “babe,” which he came up with when he slurred his words once and said, “Who’s got the bagels tomorrow, beb?”) He and co-founder Luke Breiteneder love both New York and Montreal-style bagels, and sought to combine the sandwich-ready size of the former with the sweet, dense dough of the latter.
Carter said this low-cost chance to do business on Whyte was too good to pass up. He hopes his time in The Hub will help promote his business in a new market.
Keith said he and Tan plan to run The Hub for at least this summer and will keep it going if there’s interest in it. He hopes it will help spark growth and innovation in Edmonton’s culinary scene.
“Food is a form of art,” Keith said, and that makes it important to support passionate up-and-coming food-makers.
“These kinds of businesses are the lifeblood of a community.”
The Hub will hold its grand opening July 11. (Please note the sign out front currently says Marrakesh Tajeen bakery, the building's former tenant; Keith said he plans to put up a new sign soon.) Visit www.meuwlys.com/thehub for details.
