Moncton entrepreneur re-opens eatery in basement of her home

It looks like a fairly normal kitchen, but the space isn’t just used to prepare meals for a family.

Tasha Brooker, the owner of Mrs. B’s Meals To Go, runs her business – providing affordable and healthy meal options – out of her licensed kitchen in the basement of her home.

“Mealtime is such a hectic, stressful time of the day for families when they get home from work exhausted,” says Brooker.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Mealtime is such a hectic, stressful time of the day for families when they get home from work exhausted," says Brooker.

Brooker launched her business out of her Moncton home in February, before having to focus on renovations to her new place. She re-opened the shop at the start of August.

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Before coming back to her hometown, she was in Dorchester, running a dine-in and take-out business out of the Bell Inn.

But her parents, who she cooks for and provides care for, became ill, forcing her to close up shop there and re-locate.

She says it’s nice to be back in business, as she currently serves about 40 customers.

“It varies. It’s people on disability, it’s double-income families, it’s single parents, it’s aged – the elderly hate to cook – it’s everybody.”

Brooker says if business continues to boom, she’ll have to hire some extra helping hands.

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Aside from running her own business, she also rents out the kitchen space to fellow entrepreneurs.

“I started with the meal prep in my home,” says Lyta Tobias, the owner of EZ Vegan. “I was cooking vegan meals for friends and family, and then I decided I wanted to turn it into an actual business.”

But despite an extensive background in the kitchen industry, it wasn’t easy as Tobias tried to start down her own path.

“I called all kinds of different churches and halls and I was maybe even going to rent out a house. I didn’t know what I could do,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I called all kinds of different churches and halls and I was maybe even going to rent out a house. I didn't know what I could do," she said.

Needing a way to make it work, she found an ad online for kitchen space rental from Brooker’s kitchen.

The pair say they love having their own schedules, and look forward to continued growth for their businesses.