The last room we need. Every dollar gets us to a working kitchen, and a slice of it goes straight to our local food pantry.
Five years ago, ZU Gallery opened with a simple idea: everyone belongs here. Since then we've hosted over 800 events. Live music, piano recitals, baby showers, birthday parties, wine club, poetry readings, workshops, movie nights, and many one-of-a-kind performances.
What we've never been able to do is feed you. Not because we haven't tried. We've served what a wine bar without a kitchen can manage, which is to say: bagged pretzels, popcorn, a lot of goodwill, and zero ability to actually cook anything.
Every event we've thrown has pointed at the same missing piece: a real kitchen. One that can turn out a whipped feta board, a proper charcuterie spread, something worth ordering a second glass of wine over.
We're not chasing a full restaurant buildout. We know what that costs, and it's not this. We're building the smallest kitchen that can legally, reliably feed a room: a three compartment sink, a handwash station, a prep table, and a commercial dishwasher that'll actually pass inspection. "Cold prep" means no fryer, no stovetop, no hood system, just knives, chilling, and clean prep space. That's deliberate. A full hot kitchen is a different project entirely, with permitting and cost that don't fit this ask. Our landlord is covering the building side. Permit fees vary depending on the final inspection, so we're covering those ourselves rather than ask you to fund a moving target. What's left is the equipment. $5,605 stands between the room we have and the kitchen we need. Not $17,000, not some padded number we hoped you wouldn't check. $5,605, priced down to the dollar.
Food is the next chapter for ZU, not a rescue plan. A second revenue stream means longer hours and kitchen staff, the kind of growth that lets us keep saying yes to five more years of shows, wine club nights, poetry readings, and everything in between.
Fund this and you're getting in early on the next five years of ZU, plus a barstool with your name on it to prove you called it first.
Refrigeration isn't on this list, we already own a unit. Permit fees vary and we're covering those ourselves rather than fund a moving target. The $895 covers standard payment processing, a small buffer against surprises, and a donation to our local food pantry, the exact cut Kickstarter would have kept.
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Why not just fund this out of pocket?
We could, slowly, over another year or two of margins. A campaign gets the kitchen open now, and turns the community that's already shown up for 800 events into the reason it exists.
Is this a nonprofit donation?
No. ZU Gallery is a business, this is a fundraiser on our own site, and your reward is a bottle of wine or a barstool with your name on it, not a tax receipt. About 8% of everything raised goes to our local food pantry, the same cut Kickstarter would have taken, but the rest funds the kitchen, not a charity.
What does this change for ZU, really?
Food gives us a second revenue stream that supports longer hours and kitchen staff, opening up the next chapter for ZU instead of just holding steady.
What if you raise more than $6,500?
Every extra dollar goes toward opening the kitchen fully staffed and stocked from day one, and our local food pantry still gets the same 8% of whatever comes in past goal too.
What if the campaign falls short?
Because we're running this ourselves instead of through Kickstarter, there's no all-or-nothing cutoff. Whatever we raise, we keep and put toward the kitchen, even if we land short of $6,500. It just means the timeline stretches.
When does the kitchen actually open?
Once the permitting timeline with the city is locked in, we'll post the date here first.
When do I get my reward?
Depends on the tier. Take the Mic, Guest Bartender, and The Barstool don't need the kitchen, we'll set those up as soon as you back the campaign. Named on the Menu and the food samples in Host at ZU happen once the kitchen actually opens, since that's what makes them possible in the first place.
Every dollar gets us closer to a working kitchen, and a slice goes straight to our local food pantry either way.
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