"The objective for us is to have a bigger production kitchen," says chef and founder Bashir Munye. He's currently working out of a kitchen at 1372 Queen Street East at the corner of Greenwood in Leslieville. And, he'll be there for the next six months.
Munye is using Indiegogo to raise money for pricey kitchen equipment such as a bake and steam oven and a walk-in fridge and freezer. So far, he has raised more than $7,000 in his first 16 hours.
For the past three years, Munye has been taking My Little Dumplings, a name inspired by his three daughters, across the city. He's a regular at the Evergreen Brick Works' Saturday market, for instance. However, while he runs his crowdfunding campaign, he's also expanding his offerings along with his business partner Damon Clements.
Next week, Munye will start up a grab-and-go service on Thursdays and Fridays at his Queen and Greenwood storefront. "It's going to be an extension of what we do at the farmer's market, so it's going to be My Little Dumplings Plus," he says.
Along with his signature dumplings and steamed buns, he hopes to serve soups, salads and other prepared foods.
My Little Dumplings isn't the first local eatery to try its hand at crowdfunding. Toronto chef Dave Mottershall used Kickstarter to transform Loka Snacks into Loka, a permanent restaurant that he recently opened at Queen and Bathurst.
What do you think of restaurants using crowdfunding? Let us know in the comments.
by Amy Grief via blogTO
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