Colab Kitchen in Stuart opens for lunch, needs more staff to add dinner service
Colab Kitchen in Stuart has opened — at least halfway.
The new restaurant, the former location of Ground Floor Farm at 100 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., opened Dec. 8 for lunch during the week and brunch on the weekends with indoor and outdoor seating, said general manager Laurrie Wood.
“It’s a giant, open, beautiful space,” Wood said. “We have this amazing yard.”
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Lunch is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and brunch is 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The market is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
The restaurant and market use fresh produce from CoLab Farms in Indiantown, which was co-founded by Pamela Huizenga Alexander. Jackie Vitale, Michael Meier and Micah Hartman, childhood friends from Stuart, sold their 4-year-old business to CoLab Farms in 2019.
Alexander, whose father was the late businessman H. Wayne Huizenga, was exposed to farming as a kid. She was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale and spent summers on her grandfather’s farm in Central Florida.
The restaurant and market also have vegan and gluten-free baked goods — including fresh bread and cinnamon rolls that are made in the morning — bone broths, organic meats, homemade ice cream, popsicles, cheesecake, Key lime pie, cookies and scones. The automatic coffee maker uses Oceana Coffee in Tequesta and The Roasted Record in Stuart.
Everything is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, Wood said, but both will be open on Mondays and for dinner service in the future, after staffing issues are resolved.
Jason Stocks, who co-owns the restaurant and market with Alexander and oversees culinary operations, had planned to be open for dinner by now.
“It’s just crazy right now,” Stocks said. “I don’t really have a timeline on dinner.”
The restaurant has just enough staff to cover lunch and brunch currently, he said. It would need at least 25% to 30% more employees to open for dinner.
The reason is a combination of previous staffing issues and the current outbreak of the omicron variant of COVID, Stocks said. Employees are out sick — something he’s also seeing as executive chef at District Table & Bar in Port Salerno.
“Hiring is horrible,” Stocks said. “We’re not even getting applications.”
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at [email protected]. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Colab Kitchen in Stuart opens for lunch, needs staff to add dinner
