The Culinary Center at Allie’s Place recently welcomed a new cohort of students from Bronx Arena High School (BAHS) in Soundview for a weeklong Culinary Essentials course, continuing a partnership that provides students with opportunities to explore culinary training in a professional environment.
Bronx Arena is a transfer school supporting under-credited students as they re-engage with their education. Through their collaboration with the Culinary Center, students can earn academic credit toward graduation while building practical skills and exploring potential career paths.
Throughout the week, the group worked with the Center’s chef instructors on foundational techniques, kitchen safety, and organization. During “Knife Skills and Soup” day with Chef and Director of Culinary Education Gregorio, students practiced knife techniques and prepared creamy tomato soup. On “Cookies and Batters” day with Assistant Chef Almira, they made an assortment of sweets, including pumpkin crème brûlée, apple cider iced oatmeal cookies, coconut macaroons, and several other cookie varieties. Students also practiced their barista skills with Lead Chef Instructor Jayda before putting their training into practice at a pop-up café-bistro on the final day.
At the pop-up, guests could order the students’ baked treats at the café counter along with made-to-order coffee drinks, including vanilla, mocha, and brown sugar cinnamon lattes, available hot or iced. The bistro menu featured the creamy tomato soup prepared earlier in the week, served with a roll.
Students rotated between café and kitchen roles, taking orders, preparing drinks, serving customers, and assembling bistro orders. Working together in a fast-paced setting gave them practical experience with customer service, teamwork, and coordinating orders.
“The feedback from our students and our school community has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Ethan Knecht, Assistant Principal at BAHS. “Every day when students returned to Bronx Arena from Allie’s Place, the energy was palpable.”
For BAHS student Dennis, who has always enjoyed cooking, the course offered an opportunity to build on that interest.
“I thought the opportunity would be fun,” he said. “I could be getting experience in something I already like to do, earning a credit, and expanding on that.”
Anna, who cooks for 10 people at home, also appreciated the practical experience.
“We’ve learned things that are good to know, especially if you want to do anything culinary in the future, or if you have a big family and have to cook,” she said.
She expressed interest in returning for the Center’s 60-hour culinary training program and hoped the week would demonstrate her reliability and readiness to continue learning.
Another student, Joelynn, wanted to improve her ability to follow recipes and measure ingredients while learning techniques such as how to properly hold a knife. Interested in potentially pursuing early childhood education, she noted that the organizational skills she was learning could also help her in another field.
Similarly, one student Dayanelly valued learning how to prepare her workstation before cooking.
“Especially for baking, we had everything portioned out. We had to measure everything and weigh it,” she said. “That gave me a better idea of how to set up before cooking.”
Ethan noted that the partnership helps students explore their interests and make informed decisions about their futures.
“Some of our students will go on to culinary school to run their own kitchens, while others may decide this field isn’t for them—and both outcomes are equally valuable,” he said.
He shared that a student from last spring’s cohort used his certificate to secure a kitchen job and now plans to work at the employer’s sister restaurant upstate while attending college. A student in the most recent cohort also expressed an interest in returning after graduation, telling Ethan, “I asked Chef Gregorio about coming back … and making a career out of this opportunity … I’m really proud of myself for taking this opportunity, and so are my parents.”
“That is exactly the post-secondary launch pad we aim to build,” Ethan said.
