Walking into Proof Incubator & Bar’s brick-wrapped, two-story space, you wouldn’t know that the restaurant is serving a need far greater than providing a meal to paying diners. As its name implies, the brick-and-mortar space acts as an incubator for up-and-coming concepts (mostly minority-owned), giving a handful of resident chefs the chance to test out their ideas, better understand their operation systems, and grow an audience. Right now, for example, chef Kenyatta Ashford’s Neutral Ground can be found in the space, serving big, hearty bowls of yakamein, as well as West African red-red and hot sausage po boys, while Kendra Elmz’s Poppytons Patisserie bakery truck is parked out front, offering scratch-made spiced molasses cake and apple galettes. A shared wait staff and bar for the restaurant and commissary kitchen for growing food businesses means that resident chefs have a low barrier to running a physical space—so all they have to think about is the food and, of course, the best ways to evolve.
But search a layer deeper and you’ll find Proof’s bigger impact: It acts as a resource center for food and beverage businesses and provides programming for operators in need. Their Restaurant Recovery program, launched shortly before the restaurant opened in 2020, was a response to the pandemic—the program (free to participants) gives business operators an intensive, hands-on curriculum to help them navigate topics like supply chain issues or menu pricing, while also providing small business support and coaching. Their courses have taken place in Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities area, with plans to expand to other parts of Tennessee and the greater Southeast. There’s also a consumer goods accelerator, meant to help businesses develop products or services in the food space—think: meal prep programs or sauces for retail. “Each piece of our program was designed with operators in mind,” writes co-founder Michael Robinson, in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “While we can’t be certain when the chaos of the pandemic will fade, Proof will continue to provide valuable offerings to support the ongoing needs of food and beverage operators.”
