Tress Walker’s business MumsKitchens NYC has been on a journey since its inception more than 10 years ago.It started in her own mother’s kitchen with Walker, her mother, aunt and other women from the West Indies community joining together to produce fresh culinary creations. Their goal is to bring a taste of home to the southeast Queens neighborhoods.
Due to time commitment, Walker and her family members are now the leading cooks behind MumsKitchens NYC. Their food represents the cultures of countries such as Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Together, they create food with unique flavor profiles.
In addition to catering and selling their goods on Next Door, MumsKitchens NYC sells their food at a number of markets in Queens such as the Jamaica Market and the weekly Queens Night Market.
“Queens Night Market is wonderful because you see all of these people that you know from social media and you see that they come out to support you,” said Walker, a native of Barbados. “The energy is amazing and there’s so much to do, see and eat.
“You can travel around the world and eat food from around the world in one evening,” she added.
MumsKitchens NYC’s savory signature dish this year is a third generation recipe for codfish balls. They’ve added a twist to the codfish balls, providing customers with a house-blended mango and pineapple base dipping sauce with side of “Slap Yo Mama” creamy, crunchy coleslaw.
They’ve also sold authentic dishes featuring foods like plantains, rice and peas, curry goat and jerk chicken.
On the sweet side, MumsKitchens NYC’s two fresh baked signature dishes are the mini coconut raisin breads and decadent brownie bites. Their speciality also includes a “booezy box line,” which are brownies that have the perfect balance of chocolate, fruit and liqueurs. The Booezy Box Line features brownies infused with pineapple, passion fruit, mango, coconut and coconut rum raisin liqueurs.
“Our brownies are amazing and are not found anywhere in this neighborhood of right now,” she said.
As a small business, Walker has found a fair share of challenges but she’s been taking steps to accomplish her dreams using local resources.
“The food business is not an easy business and although I had the idea for MumsKitchens NYC for a long time, it wasn’t until I started the Jamaica FEASTS program out of Queens Library where it really got me started,” she said.
The Jamaica Food Entrepreneurship and Services Training Seminar (FEASTS) provides resources, training and workspace for entrepreneurs seeking to start or grow their food businesses.
“It’s a wonderful program that helps you take an idea and turn it into a reality,” Walker said. “I learned about direction, paperwork, how to run a food business, food-planning, menu-planning and licenses; it helped me to focus doing the business fully and consciously.”
The next goal for Walker and her business is opening up a brick-and-mortar shop.
“We want to be able to bring more quality-tasting food to the southeast area,” Walker said. “MumsKitchens NYC has a special taste and has a special touch. We really do bake with love.”
Walker finds support in the South East Queens Chamber of Commerce and its president, Reverend R. Simone Lord.
At a recent South East Queens Chamber of Commerce business breakfast, MumsKitchens NYC supplied some of the baked goods for attendees.
“It’s good to be surrounded by like-minded people,” she said of the chamber. “They’re doing what you want to do. They own their own businesses and centers and it’s inspiring.”
Updates on MumsKitchens NYC can be found on their social media pages as well as at
www.MumsKitchensnyc.com.
