Breaking into the culinary scene and launching a successful restaurant while taking on overhead costs can be a challenge - one that a pair of entrepreneurs want to help local chefs overcome.

Jim Pachence, a former biotechnology scientist, and Kristin McKinney Zelinsky, owner of the Pro Kitchen Hub in Tampa, have joined forces to open Foodie Labs, a culinary hub with a mix of ghost kitchens and shared spaces in St. Pete's ArtsXchange campus in the Warehouse Arts District at 515 22nd Street South.

We saw there was a big part of the market that was missing. What happens to people who are interested in starting a culinary career? Do they try to go out and sell at farmers' markets?" Pachence said during the February 8th grand opening celebration of Foodie Labs, noting there isn't a consolidated shared commercial kitchen space in the city.

St. Pete commuters can swap out greasy burgers from fast food joints for freshly-made salads at Greenlane's new drive-thru restaurant opening on 4th Street. 

Greenlane, a health-conscious-driven restaurant concept expanding into several Tampa Bay-area submarkets, is getting ready to turn dirt at 8001 4th Street for its third location.

The 1,200-square-foot bright green building will have a single drive-thru lane and pickup window where customers can quickly order sweet and spicy salads or build their own. 

Grilled antelope, Sitka deer street tacos, and elk tenderloin are among the wild game dishes that will be served at The Huntsman, a new field-and-stream-to-table restaurant coming to downtown St. Pete.

The Huntsman, an upscale casual concept focusing on foraged, hunted, and farmed ingredients, will open at 200 Central Avenue in the space formerly occupied by The Mill, a popular downtown restaurant that closed last year citing damage to their building due to nearby construction. 

Daniel Renninger, Skylar Stafford, and Ben Williamson, co-owners of The Huntsman, who have worked together at the restaurants operated by Renninger, joined forces several years ago to curate dishes from their worldly experiences.