By: Julie Lucia, Danielle Madero, and Adam Johnson

Many restaurants offer dinner and music. But unlike the rest, Rhythm Kitchen has the perfect combination between serving unique dishes, carefully and well crafted, and live music of all different types. Owner Shelley Lenzini had a vision for a restaurant store front. She wanted to combine her love for cultural music and healthy foods. It is because of her expertise in the food industry, her vision came to life. Set in downtown Peoria, Rhythm Kitchen is a mid scale restaurant that serves Jamaican infused foods to anyone who is interested in new great tasting food.

Starting off a restaurant business owner and food enthusiast, Shelley Lenzini pours her life into her job. She has created an open space where people can come in and feel at home. The restaurant offers an open kitchen where any behind it can see out and vice versa. This provides the customer with a sense of comfort when creating their food. It also offers a sense of wonder because the customer can watch how their dish starts and how it is finished.

“Rhythm Kitchen isn’t a place that’ll do what anyone else in town will do. There may be some similarities, but we are our own entity,” says Executive Chef Jason Zeck. “The open kitchen allows for the tables closer to the kitchen to talk to the people preparing their food, and offers more connectivity to the customer. It’s just an added layer that makes the Rhythm Kitchen what it is.”

The restaurant offers much more than dine in food. The are available for in house parties in which groups of people can book the restaurant on a certain night and have their own party within the restaurant. Uniquely so, the restaurant has a split layout where each side can be filled with customers but also serve different parties if needed. This is also used if a birthday party or wedding party wants their own area while still enjoying live music.

“We offer a lot of different services such as live music and we also allow people to rent out our restaurant for parties,” says Lenzini. “We have done a paint night, speed dating, as well as worked with Running Central on various occaisons. I’d really like to start cooking outside more, but we haven’t been able to do that as much.”

Rhythm Kitchen is a smaller business atmosphere. This means the workers and staff have a genuine love for their business. Each one can speak positively on its behalf and have a commitment towards growing the business. Their belief of the restaurant and want towards serving their customers with a smile makes Rhythm Kitchen one of a kind.

“I have been here since the beginning and I do this to support my family. I love this job and it makes it so much better when there is music,” says Henry Wyatt the Utility Professional at the Rhythm Kitchen.

If you are looking for a last minute restaurant, date location, live music, or great food, look no further than Rhythm Kitchen.