“Inside those kitchens [at The Hatchery], we refined our operations, deepened our connections, and found our larger purpose. It is a place of growth, accountability, and joy for us.”
Wanda Gilmer
For Wanda Gilmer, catering is more than a service; it’s a lifelong passion rooted in bringing people together. From a young age, Wanda understood the kitchen as a place where stories and life lessons were baked into every dish. Despite an established career in the corporate world, Wanda knew her passion for cooking was something she wanted to share.
“Catering is where my heart lives,” said Wanda. “Every dish is a way to serve people, to listen without words, and to create a moment where someone feels seen and cared for.”
In 2020, Wanda and her husband Freddie opened Fatso Hard Kitchen, a catering business specializing in Midwestern rooted comfort dishes with a Southern twist. The business offers a full catering experience with genuine hospitality, from personalized menus to ensuring the finest details of a customer’s request are fulfilled with care. Whether serving corporate partners or private clients, Fatso Hard Kitchen keeps people a priority.
With initial plans to open a brick-and-mortar location, the COVID-19 pandemic required the couple to rethink their business strategy, leading them to instead start and operate the business out of The Hatchery, a nonprofit food and beverage incubator co-owned by A4CB. Located on Chicago’s West Side, The Hatchery provides quality kitchen space, training, and incubator programming on site to help local food businesses start and grow their businesses.
“Inside those kitchens [at The Hatchery], we refined our operations, deepened our connections, and found our larger purpose,” Wanda said. “It is a place of growth, accountability, and joy for us.”
In 2024, Wanda graduated from A4CB’s Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab (NEL), a 3-month cohort-based accelerator program that pairs community business owners with strategists and advisors who provide intensive support for a business growth initiative. Each entrepreneur also receives a $20,000 grant to help execute their growth plan. NEL helped Wanda and Freddie build strategies for sustainability, revenue growth, and measurable community impact.
This growth plan required working capital for equipment upgrades, to support more staffing, and to increase brand visibility in Chicago’s vibrant food scene. In 2024, Fatso Hard Kitchen received a grant via a program A4CB administered in partnership with Wells Fargo, enabling Wanda and Freddie to enhance their digital footprint by hiring a company to redesign their website and manage their social media presence.
In 2025, the business received a loan from A4CB to help lay the groundwork to hire a Prep Cook and Kitchen Assistant. This additional staff would help them secure new sales and contracts. This capital from A4CB also helped expand marketing efforts targeting corporate and community clients with the continued focus on serving good food to the community.
As Fatso Hard Kitchen prepares its next chapter, community remains at the forefront. Wanda and Freddie envision stepping into a teaching role through a larger space of their own that serves as both a primary production hub and culinary learning center for food entrepreneurs like themselves. Their vision for this new facility includes offering shared commercial kitchen access, hands-on training, and mentorship for emerging chefs, food entrepreneurs, and local youth.
