How South Side Pitch Champion Won Big

Roseland native Rodney Trussell will soon be able to offer more cooks resources to make and sell their food: The R City Kitchen founder took home $15,500 in the South Side Pitch competition last week.

Trussell’s passionate pitch at the “Shark Tank”–style competition won him the grand prize as well as the community and social impact awards for his Far South Side shared-use commercial kitchen that opened six months ago. Now, at least 30 clients use the space to make foods like ribs, smoothies, and mac and cheese.

The hospitality industry veteran told Hey Chicago he plans to use the money to hire a kitchen manager and create business programs.

With food deserts across the South Side, Trusell hopes to build infrastructure for food entrepreneurs in the area to thrive.

He also wants to open other kitchens in the south suburbs.

“I've had members coming from Calumet City,” he said. “I got a call yesterday from someone inquiring that lives in Worth.”

That's not all: Trussell is also in the planning stages of creating a South Side food truck hub.

+ If you want to use R City Kitchen’s facility, reach out.