A Catered Affair

The Boston Public Library Opens a Restaurant Incubator | Eater Boston

"A decades-old New England catering and events company that runs the library’s food programming and launched the Community Table program in 2022 in partnership with a nonprofit incubator to better support BIPOC- and women-owned food businesses. In the wake of the George Floyd protests the company re-examined how to diversify its business and use its platform to boost local vendors; it serves about a half a million people a year across venues it runs, including restaurants at the library’s central location, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Boston Athenaeum, plus catered events. On the incubator program, Ken Barrett-Sweet, the company’s vice president of catering, says: “It gives them a launching point for their next step, either having a restaurant space of their own, a catering business, or a food truck,” and later: “How do you get involved and how do you support others around you? This is the best way we can do it.”" - Erika Adams