Dec. 7, 2009 — One of the biggest chal­lenges of tran­si­tion­ing from an under­ground culi­nary oper­a­tion to a full-fledged busi­ness is access to com­mer­cial kitchen space—since the cost of out­fit­ting and cer­ti­fy­ing such a kitchen is pro­hib­i­tive to most culi­nary micro-enterprises. As legions of street food ven­dors, under-the-radar cater­ers, and teeny-tiny treat mak­ers strug­gle with legit­i­macy, food incu­ba­tor pro­grams such as San Francisco’s La Cocina project work hard to bring these home­grown entre­pre­neurs up to a fully cre­den­tialed and self-sufficient busi­ness sta­tus. Read more