If you Build Them, They Will Cook! Creating Kitchens, One by One

Drawn to the Kitchen: Community Kitchens.

While on Facebook, I chatted with marvelous personal chef, Sally Cameron of Every Day Gourmet. She commented on my pictures and posts about our magnificent Youth Culinary and Nutrition Camp, Operation C.H.E.F.

She was complimenting our camp and asking about our obviously incredible commercial kitchen facilities. I am connected and granted access to top kitchens in my area.  I had to stop and think about that for a minute.  Clean, organized commercial kitchens are few and far between, so what gives?  I realized over the past 10 years, with my community work, I helped champion, design and build several commercial kitchens!  I have always had a focus for the need of more kitchens, it was a great realization that I somehow helped in a very concrete way.  How cool!

For chefs, cooks and culinary educators, you too can gain access to great facilities and opportunities by supporting a local non-profit with a culinary focus. It has always been a win on both sides in my life. It may take a while to improve or build a new facility, but the process has always been extremely rewarding.

For Operation C.H.E.F., we are renting the magnificent Fresh Starts Cooking School in Novato, a part of Homeward Bound of Marin, a cutting edge homeless services center in my community with a magnificent kitchen and event space.

Now, we have a fantastic place to cook fresh foods and share out passion for cooking with youth and the excellent exposure benefit the program. We make everything from hand made Gnocchi and Panzanella Salad to a "make your own" gourmet grain salad.  We learn about "raw food" and are traveling to a farm later in the week. Here is a great recipe for savory Black Bean and Banana Empanadas, created to get young people to try daring food combinations.
See the photo (you have to love the flour on the face!).




From the "Drawing Board " vision into a real life kitchen, with 44 kids ages 10-14. Now that is truly being "Drawn to the Kitchen"! Soon, I will share my quest for championing residential kitchens that I share with my beloved Standards of Excellence Appliances as I travel from kitchen to kitchen in July and August visiting and cooking for our clients with new S.O.E. kitchens. Standards of Excellence is all about creating new kitchens. I mean, really, who do you think donated the Dacor Double Ovens and Wolf Cook Top in the incredible Fresh Starts demonstration kitchen shown below? Why, S.O.E., of course!