A.M. Kitchen Co. President Curtiss Stancil recently opened a ghost kitchen at Regency’s food court, where it prepares food on the menus of several breakfast concepts for delivery and takeout. (Courtesy of A.M. Kitchen Co.)
A restaurant concept focused on delivery has expanded for the second time in as many years.
A.M. Kitchen Co. opened an outpost last month in the food court at Regency, where the company operates a so-called ghost kitchen that whips up food from six in-house restaurant concepts for delivery and takeout orders placed online or using onsite kiosks.
It’s the second location for the company, which also operates a food hall that features seating at 9545 Amberdale Drive in Chesterfield County.
A.M. Kitchen’s concepts are weighted toward breakfast fare, and include Anniebell’s Chicken & Waffles, Da Best Damn Breakfast, Breakwich, Breakfast Chick and The Flapjack Hut.
Company President Curtiss Stancil said the use of multiple brands helps cater to multiple types of customers in a one-stop shop.
“You may have a family but the kids want pancakes and the mom is eating healthy so she wants a healthy option,” he said. “We can package all of that in one order.”
The company also operates the African cuisine concept Chinwe Jollof Bowl, which launched in September and offers West African rice bowls paired with grilled beef and other meats. The concept was inspired by Stancil’s conversations with former Nigerian Education Secretary Chinwe Obaji, who Stancil met while on a business trip in West Africa.
Stancil estimated that it cost him about $70,000 to establish the Regency outpost. He said the ghost kitchen allows him to launch multiple restaurant concepts while keeping costs down.
“I’m a foodie and I want to build brands. If we had a traditional brick-and-mortar it would be hundreds of thousands to build each out,” Stancil said. “It’s the intersection of food and technology and it really minimizes the cost.”
Stancil launched A.M. Kitchen in 2020 as a response to pandemic-related shutdowns that wiped out the business of his catering outfit Curtmont Catering, which he founded in 2015.
“I was like we can’t just die, so we pivoted to an on-demand business,” Stancil said.
A.M. Kitchen launched initially with the Anniebell’s Chicken & Waffles concept out of Hatch, a food-and-beverage incubator in Manchester.
In addition to its in-house concepts, the company also licenses third-party restaurant concepts from the likes of Mariah’s Cookies and Mr. Beast Burger.
That experience has motivated Stancil to try licensing himself. Starting this month, food services company FDY Inc. will offer A.M. Kitchen menus at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. Another A.M. Kitchen eatery concept is expected to launch this spring.
The company has 12 employees. Curtmont Catering continues to operate, but now under the A.M. Kitchen banner.
A.M Kitchen joins the Regency roster as the mall undergoes a substantial redevelopment into a mixed-use destination with hundreds of apartments and new anchor tenants such as Surge Adventure Park and NOVA Aquatics. Sheetz has plans to build a convenience store at the mall.
In other local ghost kitchen news, ChefSuite is working on a West Broad Street ghost kitchen in which it will rent out space to people to operate their delivery-only restaurants.
Breakfast-focused ghost kitchen newest ingredient at Regency mall - RichmondBizSense
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