Congratulations, Susan Tuveson of Acorn Kitchen! In recognition of all that this new community kitchen in Kittery has accomplished since it’s opened, the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture was in town last week to present a certificate of appreciation. From SeacoastOnline:
A top Maine official was in town Thursday to present a certificate of appreciation to Kittery business owner Susan Tuveson.
Commissioner Walt Whitcomb of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry was at Tuveson’s Acorn Kitchen for Maine Small Business Week.
Acorn Kitchen is a fully licensed, multipurpose kitchen that can be used for anything from producing specialty foods to offering cooking classes. Tuveson is the former owner of Cacao Chocolates.
Whitcomb said Gov. Paul LePage charged commissioners with traveling across the state this week to honor small businesses.
In essence, Acorn Kitchen fits two bills. It not only is a small business in its own right, but its clients are entrepreneurs as well.
Among them is Maria Farrah Howell of York, who is using Acorn Kitchen, and Tuveson’s expertise, to make her gourmet cookies and brownies under the name Chocolat and Sel (salt in French).
“The advice I’m getting from Susan is not even to be measured,” Howell told Whitcomb. “She appreciates that great ingredients, locally sourced, is going to make a great item.”
Another client of Acorn Kitchen is Garen Heller of South Berwick, a farmer who uses the facilities to make specialty ready-made salads that he sells at the Portsmouth farmers market.
Acorn Kitchen is “not unique” in Maine, Whitcomb said, but there are very few such facilities in a state that he said is brimming with people such as Howell and Heller. However, he said he thinks that will change in the future.
“We don’t have enough right now, but in five years, you will need more than your fingers and toes to count them,” he predicted.
Tuveson said she was honored to be given the certificate of appreciation. The longtime Kittery resident said she was particularly pleased that Whitcomb came to the southernmost town in the state.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Is Kittery really Maine?’ This is indeed Maine,” she said to Whitcomb. “I’m so pleased you came to visit us. I just wish we could sit down for a meal.”