BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh University Dining is introducing a new ghost kitchen concept that brings a rotating lineup of local food businesses directly onto campus.
Branded as Clayton’s Kitchen and located in Clayton University Center, 29 Tremble Drive in Bethlehem, the initiative kicks off on Monday, March 23, and invites local restaurants and culinary entrepreneurs to take part in short-term residencies — typically one to two weeks — giving students, faculty and staff access to a steady rotation of off-campus cuisine without leaving campus, according to a news release.
The program kicks off with Kou’s Kitchen, a Bethlehem-based catering company led by executive chef Kou Taylor and her husband, Myles Taylor.
Their residency introduces students to a menu rooted in bold, globally inspired flavors, including glazed peanut chicken, peanut butter spare ribs, smoked turkey and vegetable soup and housemade bissap, with the latter being a traditional African hibiscus juice.
The goal is to “expand dining options, create a new platform for local food businesses, and build stronger connections between the university and the surrounding community.”
“With Lehigh situated within walking distance of a wide range of restaurants, cafés, and bakeries, this program offers a new way to bring that local food scene onto campus — and to introduce students to businesses they may not have discovered otherwise,” the news release states.
Orders are placed through Grubhub and picked up via Apex Lockers, with payment options that include dining dollars, Clutch Cash and credit/debit.
Lehigh Dining plans to expand the series in the fall, with additional local partners that are already being considered.
Kou Kitchen offers “a taste of Africa” with specialties such as fufu, jollof rice, peanut butter spare ribs and more.
The Taylors introduced their business to the Lehigh Valley in 2022, setting up their first food stand at the Great Allentown Fair.
With help from their two children and family relatives, the couple has increased the business’ visibility and popularity by serving their freshly prepared eats at other local events and venues, including Allentown’s West End World of Food Festival and Blues, Brews & Barbecue Festival, Food Truck Wednesdays at Macungie Memorial Park and local wineries and breweries such as Sherman Street Beer Company in Allentown and Taylor House Brewing Co. in Catasauqua.
The business also has become a hit via catering orders for family dinner parties, corporate functions and other private events.
Kou, a Liberian native, grew up in a family of eight with several extended relatives also living in the household.
As a teenager, she learned how to cook traditional Liberian dishes from her mother and often prepared family meals when she came home from school.
The experience of having so many mouths to feed as a teen prepared her for her current gig as a chef preparing dishes for large public and private events. She now labels cooking her “passion.”
“At the time, I was very upset,” Kou previously told WFMZ of her cooking responsibility growing up. “But now, I’m very happy. So, from that upbringing, it brings me to this: people eating the food and enjoying it and then calling for more.”
The business’ peanut butter spare ribs and chicken and beef kabobs, made with a signature blend of African seasonings, have become customer favorites, Kou said.
Other menu highlights include entrees (served with regular or cauliflower rice) such as cassava leaves, eggplant, potato greens and torborgee; and sides such as cucumber salad, honey cornbread, seared vegetables, kala (hush puppies) and air fried chicken wings with ginger, barbecue or jerk sauce.
“When people come back and give me feedback – ‘Thank you. It was wonderful. We enjoyed it,’ that make’s me feel so good,” Kou said. “And I just want to continue feeding people …. I cook with a lot of passion, a lot of love.”