In kitchens across Boston, new connections are simmering. Pots and pans are just part of the cooking process; the secret ingredient is the sense of community that comes from the simple act of preparing food together. This is the vision of Culinary Commons, a nonprofit initiative founded by Andrea Catania (MET’24) and Mark Araujo that’s creating public kitchens throughout the city.
“We work in the food space as advocates for food justice, and there’s not a lot of places where you can go for free food programming,” explains Mark. “I always ask the question: Where did you learn how to eat? Where did you learn how to cook? It’s mostly at home, if you have a home or something that you consider a home, but there’s no real public places where we gather around, talk about food, and learn how to cook that are free and accessible.”
“As everything becomes more privatized and individualized—we’re on our phones or we’re at home—and there’s a ton of social isolation after the pandemic, there’s less and less places where you can just go and gather for free and just meet people, meet your neighbors, talk to folks.”
This absence of communal cooking spaces is what Culinary Commons aims to address. Their solution: creating public kitchens that serve as essential societal infrastructure.
As Boston grapples with increasing food insecurity—affecting about 30% of the population according to Mark—and rising food costs, public kitchens offer a multi-functional response. “If you are hungry, you can go cook a meal for you and your community. If you want to learn where to purchase locally or seasonally, you can come here.” Mark explains.
Andrea describes public kitchens as, “spaces that are free and open to the public. It’s a shared communal kitchen space where people can come to enjoy food programming. They can eat together and cook together. Some of it is programmed where you can come to classes and some of it is just open to the public.”
The concept is both innovative and ancient. “This is a modern application of a centuries-old concept of the hearth or communal kitchens or shared kitchen space,” Andrea notes, “but a modern application of those things to solve modern problems.”
Since launching in 2023, Culinary Commons has already made significant progress. They’ve collaborated with the Design Studio for Social Intervention to create seven pop-up kitchens across Boston. In summer 2024, they ran a three-month public kitchen activation in Upham’s Corner in Dorchester, open three days a week from 3 to 7 p.m.
“We had food poetry slams, Chopped challenges, and facilitated, hands-on demos,” recalls Mark. “There were hundreds and hundreds of people that came through the door from all different places in the world, and it was a beautiful moment.”
They’ve also been working with the Harvest on Vine Food Pantry in Charlestown, reimagining their communal spaces. In February 2025, they celebrated the soft opening of their public kitchen.
“Food is a great way into a lot of other conversations because it touches so many different kinds of topics,” Andrea explains. “Food is this combination of highly personal and universal experiences.”
What sets Culinary Commons apart is their inclusive approach. When asked who uses these public kitchens, Andrea responds, “The short answer is that it’s everyone. There are people who may be unhoused, or they may be living in the shelter nearby who can utilize this space as a kitchen. There are folks that live in dorms that don’t have a lot of kitchen space, who are looking to cook together.”
Mark emphasizes that their framework is, “rooted in love, care, joy, compassion. It’s not about direct services or feeding the needy, or public meaning ‘poor’; it’s really about celebrating the beauty of food.”
Looking ahead, Culinary Commons envisions a hub-and-spoke model where public kitchens become widespread across the city of Boston. “In Allston-Brighton and Upham’s Corner Dorchester, there will be public kitchens.” Mark explains. Their ambitions extend beyond Boston, with plans to prototype a public kitchen in Mexico City this summer.
“Ideally in the future, we envision a food system that is truly just,” Andrea shares. “Public kitchens are not the answer to that, they’re just one part of the solution. They center food justice and other forms of intersectional justice in a way that can help us move toward that future.”
Mark paints a picture of what daily life might look like in a decade: “In ten years you would say, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to the public kitchen on a Friday night. They’re having a food poetry slam.’ Or, ‘On Saturday I’m going to teach a class about making sweet potato gnocchi, and then next week they’re having a food justice chat.’ That’s our moment to talk about foodways and more just food systems.”
To advance this vision, Culinary Commons is participating in the Innovate@BU New Venture Competition. “We’re very excited to be in NVC, to be at Innovate@BU,” says Mark. “There’s so many great mentorship opportunities and ways to elevate the story and the things that we’re trying to build—so much support in helping us see this vision through.”
Working with Innovate@BU has already yielded results. “Through talking with some of the folks here at Innovate, we’ve been able to be connected to the Law Lab that’s helping us with our 501(c)(3) status and our incorporation, which allows us to do many more things,” Andrea explains.
A win in the competition would accelerate their progress significantly. “Winning first prize—that $20,000 will go a long way to build that next public kitchen, pay our activators to bring people in, purchase food, and do all the things that we need to do,” Mark says. “We’re a nonprofit, so we’re constantly seeking funding and applying for grants. That influx of money will really give us a great runway to continue building and seeing through what we’ve planned.”
Culinary Commons is one of 10 teams to make it to the final round of the New Venture Competition! Next, they’ll pitch for a chance to win a piece of the $80k cash prize. We can’t wait to see Culinary Commons reach new heights in the future!
