Kathy Fisher grew up Amish in Strasburg and later left the church, in part, to become an entrepreneur. She’s now running a ghost kitchen — a delivery-only food service operation — out of a historic mansion in Mifflintown. (Ghost kitchens, it turns out, are very much alive.)
We talked to Kathy (pictured) about the business, leaving the Plain community, and how it’s shaping her work and her menu all these years later.
Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
PA Local: Hi Kathy. Tell us about your ghost kitchen.
Fisher: We rent a commercial kitchen in the Annsfield Estate (a popular Juniata Valley wedding venue). We go in one day a week with all of our helpers and whip up all the food. Then we freeze everything so it can be stored until someone’s ready to eat it. That part is fairly unique among ghost kitchens. We’re finding it really caters to working parents. It also makes the food easier for us to transport.
PA Local: How do the orders reach the customers?
Fisher: We do free deliveries if you’re within five miles of the courthouse in Mifflintown. Otherwise we have five different pickup locations. (...)
We've had a little bit of difficulty in our advertising because people don't know the term "ghost kitchen." We say it's as simple as we don't have a sit-in restaurant and we do the delivery. Basically everything is ordered online.
PA Local: Your menu has a number of Pennsylvania Dutch staples. You grew up in the Plain community. Can you tell us about that part of your life?
Fisher: I grew up in the horse-and-buggy Amish community. Most of my relatives and my parents are still in the Plain community. They’re no longer horse-and-buggy Amish. When I was about five we joined the Mennonite community, and when I got married I transitioned out of the Plain community altogether.
PA Local: Are you comfortable sharing your reasons for leaving?
Fisher: As a woman I knew that if I stayed I would be limited in what I could do, and I had big dreams. I wanted to start a business. You do see women (in the Plain community) doing more of that now — putting out cookbooks, for example — than they would have years ago. (...)
What many people don’t understand is that when you transition out of something like that, there’s so many things that can shift, both inwardly and outwardly.
One of my fondest memories from growing up was dinnertime. You all gathered for it and it was never missed. It is the one tradition I have taken from my culture and said this is really valuable. We’re trying to make it easier for other people to do that now.
You can browse Kathryn's menu here and find regular updates here.
—Colin Deppen, Spotlight PA | 
