It’s 1 a.m. You’re on campus and you’re starving. The dining hall and Boost have been closed for hours, and you just can’t stomach another slice of Genoa’s pizza. DoorDash or UberEATS? Too expensive. Looks like it’s dinner from the vending machine again.
But what if there was another option? Meet Ryan Pinkney (Duce) and Jaren Solomon (J Rock), the Point Park seniors on a mission to satisfy late night cravings without breaking the bank.
Pinkney and Solomon spent the summer perfecting their craft and have been serving up late night eats under the name “1 a.m.” since the start of the semester.
“There’s not many things open late,” Pinkney said. “We wanted to create a solution to a problem that’s been well known within the community for a long time.”
The few places near campus that stay open late come with a price tag.
“If you’re going to a restaurant, you’re spending $25 on a dinner,” Pinkney said. “That’s not a college budget.”
To keep costs low, Pinkney and Solomon purchase as much of their ingredients wholesale as possible. Buying from local butchers like Wholey’s Market in the Strip District makes it cost effective to produce high volumes of food.
They arrived to the interview toting a large bag of salmon they just picked up from Wholey’s.
From their ghost kitchen, fondly dubbed the ‘Annex,’ they’ll keep cooking until it’s time to leave for class.
Both Pinkney and Solomon have been cooking for as long as they can remember. Inspired by watching their mothers and grandmothers, they decided to build their own community through food.
“What we really want to do is give affordable, homestyle, cooked meals to the people who are away from home,” Pinkney said.
1 a.m. is serving up everything from shrimp, to ribs, to mac n cheese, to mashed potatoes.
“This is our eighth drop. We have sold out all eight times,” Pinkney said.
Twice a week, Pinkney and Solomon fulfill dozens of orders as they come in.
On Instagram, they advertise semiweekly specials with graphics displaying the menu items and pricing.
Pinkney and Solomon spend the evening delivering food to everyone who has ordered.
“I would ultimately say our inspiration is just trying to create opportunity for ourselves, financially, so we can continue to stand for what we believe in: community and our morals,” Pinkney said.
When they’re not in class, working, or cooking for the campus community, Pinkney and Solomon are in their ghost kitchen experimenting with new recipes and flavor combinations.
In their test kitchen, they refine recipes, so students receive the best of the best.
1 a.m. may begin at Point Park, but it is not stopping there.
“Our ultimate goal is a food truck,” Pinkney said.
Pinkey and Solomon strongly encourage anyone interested in a plate to pre-order through direct message on Instagram at ‘1amprojectofficial.’
