PEORIA MAGAZINE March 2023

Thyme Kitchen & Craft Beer

I f Travis Mohlenbrink had a dream job, it would be as a full-time restaurant cook. As the owner of Spice Hospitality with its six dining, catering and brewing establishments employing 200 people, Mohlenbrink, 47, gets some time in his kitchens, but not nearly enough to satisfy his passion for cooking. “Cooks … are some of the most important people in a restaurant,” he said. “I like completing tasks, which sometimes in my day is dif ficult to accomplish. As a cook, you start and finish dishes all day long.” Even more important to Mohlenbrink, “there is room for some creativity. “There’s just something very satisfying about ending a dinner service knowing that you just served hundreds of people and hopefully made some of them forget about everything in the world for a couple hours.”

DISH AND DRINK

THE SPICE IS RIGHT Saffron Social is next up for

Travis Mohlenbrink, one of central Illinois’ most imaginative restaurateurs

BY LISA COON PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

16 MARCH 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE