Sarinthra Tong-Ngork grew up eating Thai food, thanks to her parents. Last week, she shared a dish close to her roots for a chance to win a spot in the Salt City Market food hall.  

Tong-Ngork was part of the market’s “Takeout Fridays” event where local food entrepreneurs ran a one-time pop-up operation, giving them a trial run for what running a restaurant is like.  

Chef candidates are assigned a location and a budget for ingredients, said Adam Sudmann, who manages the program. This gives Sudmann an opportunity to see how they handle the stress of the restaurant business, he said. 

The fall cohort will wrap up its final event on Oct. 19. Finalists will be chosen in January after the spring cohort, and Salt City Market will open in fall 2020. The market will feature a 10-stall food hall where customers can try dishes from around the world.  

Sudmann is also the creator of My Lucky Tummy, another food pop-up in Syracuse, and the owner of With Love, Restaurant where aspiring chefs are trained and given three-month rotations running the restaurant.  

By using the takeout model, Sudmann said he hopes chef candidates gain a realistic idea of the restaurant business that people may not receive at his other operations, where it’s not as high-stakes. Takeout participants will encounter the “pains and pleasures” of the industry, he said.

To obtain a spot in Salt City Market, chefs go through a 10-step process, according to its website. This includes an interview, a tasting of the applicant’s food and a four-part, eight–hour training that covers food prep safety, recipe development and the basics of the restaurant and catering business.  

Tong-Ngork said the training is increasingly valuable, as it was this aspect of the industry that kept her from branching out more. “It was just worrying about not knowing enough about running a business,” she said.   

Karleigh Merritt-Henry | Digital Design Editor

Sudmann said job interviews alone don’t always correlate to job performance. Through this hiring process, he said he’s able to learn about candidates’ time management and stamina. Also, the candidate can see if they actually want the role.  

Friday’s menu featured chicken and vegan curry, as well as hand-rolled dumplings and coconut water. Tong-Ngork grew up eating food from her Thai culture and said she wanted to share a dish that was close to her roots but not common in Syracuse.  

As a chef for 23 years, Tong-Ngork said she got a few emails about Salt City Market right around the time she left her job at Bellevue Country Club and figured she’d get involved.  

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for what Adam’s done,” Tong-Ngork said. “So I knew this project was something special.” 

The spring cohort will start their takeout nights in November, before the final selection process in January. Sudmann said they’ve been drawing crowds of 100-150 people, adding that the success is partly due to a crowd of regulars. 

With a background in event management from Brooklyn, Sudmann said he was drawn to the city because of its diverse population. He hoped it would bring great talent to his idea of a multinational food court.  

Tong-Ngork said beyond the business opportunity, the market provides a sense of community.  

“I really relish the opportunity, Tong-Ngork said, “if I’m selected, to really grow together and build this community together.”   

Published on October 1, 2019 at 11:01 pm