Barbecue is a family tradition for Jontrese Wright, and expanding Just Wright BBQ from a microenterprise home kitchen effort to a full-blown business in Long Beach is his dream.
It’s going to take Partake Collective to make that happen, he said. Partake offers fully equipped, certified commercial kitchens for rent hourly, weekly and more. Chefs use the complex at 456 Elm Ave. in downtown Long Beach for food prep, cooking to serve at pop-ups, catering and more.
Jontrese trained at the College of Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. His experience includes high-end hotel kitchens and exclusive catering firms.
Jontrese started his own small catering business, JT Catering Services, from his home in 2018. He offered a wide range of menu options, but even then, the specialty was barbecue using recipes handed down from his father and mother. Just Wright BBQ has become known for serving up soulful, smoked-to-perfection dishes that have been a hit with customers and catering clients across LA.
“It’s a lot of work,” Jontrese admitted. “But I love it. My father was a pit master. I guess it runs in the blood.”
As Jontrese’s reputation grew, he quickly had more work than he could handle out of the family kitchen. He found Partake, which not only had kitchen space but also handled certifications and state rules.
“Partake is a wonderful situation,” Jontrese said. “I can prep there, cook there, store food at the proper temperatures. I think it will really help scale up the business.”
Like most chefs, Jontrese admits to hoping for his own brick and mortar outlet someday. But he’s experienced how hard starting up is, and appreciates the bridge that Partake has become for him.
“The food industry is really hard (as a business) because you have a lot of overhead,” he said. “That’s what makes Partake so great – it really cuts down on what you need. It’s great when we do events.”
Jontrese said he rents space at Partake to do prep work as well as cooking sides and main dishes that aren’t smoked. He said the next step is to take advantage of Partake’s connections in Long Beach to do more pop-up events, thereby building his client base.
“Most of my catering clients are in LA. This is my third year, and I really want to start getting something going with Partake and Long Beach,” Jontrese said. ” When we do events, we get a great response. I’d like to do more pop-ups with them, and get into the downtown Long Beach scene.”
Partake Collective offers a wide range of kitchen spaces, including prep spaces, fully equipped commercial kitchens, a Chef’s & Commissary Kitchen Rental and more. Rentals range from hourly and daily to monthly or yearly.
There is also a food hall, a marketplace and food pickup and delivery areas.
Free tours are available by appointment. For more information, go to partakecollective.com.
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