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Non-Profit Launched By Chef Rick Bayless Gives Latest Cohort a Joyous Sendoff
Impact Culinary Training is a program created in 2019 by Chef Rick Bayless to provide learning opportunities to selected culinary industry aspirants from Chicago's under-resourced communities. During the graduation ceremony Friday (August 2) for Impact Culinary's 9th cohort, the students were congratulated for their desire to learn, their curiosity, their teamwork, and their ability to shake off and learn from what the speakers described as inevitable mistakes.
But one point was driven home by speaker after speaker: that the graduates will always be part of the Impact Culinary community and will be able to count on the staff and fellow graduates for advice and help as they travel the often-bumpy road to careers in the restaurant industry.
"I hope you know you remain a part of the Impact family," said Chef Matthew Miller, the program's lead instructor. "We’ll continue to be here to support in each and every opportunity."
Kelly Dull, the baking expert who serves as Impact's culinary assistant, struck a similar note: "Remember that our learning journeys are never-ending and remember that you’ve got a community of people behind you. Your Impact community will always be here for you and guide you along."
The graduation ceremony was held at The Hatchery, the food business incubator located at Lake St. and Kedzie Ave. in Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood. The tables at the ceremony were filled mostly with families and friends of the graduates, and there was certainly a celebratory atmosphere.
Impact Culinary Training is a partnership of Chef Rick Bayless and his Frontera Restaurant Group team; The Hatchery; Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC), located in the West Fulton Market neighborhood and the place where The Hatchery was launched; and Allies for Community Business.
Chef Rick was unable to attend the graduation ceremony , but he laid out the thinking behind Impact Culinary Training during a June 9 panel discussion, titled “The Rise and Impact of Chef Civic Leadership,” that was in association with the James Beard Foundation Awards held June 10 in Chicago and was presented by the Chicago Chefs Cook humanitarian non-profit.
For I would say the last 15 years, I was unhappy with the people coming into our restaurant applying for jobs, because I didn't see enough black and brown people coming in there with enough culinary education to be able to hold their own. Going to culinary schools is expensive and you have to be able to support yourself during that time...
So I said we there's got to be a way that we can actually turn out young cooks that have a respect for themselves or respect for the profession, which is super important to me, and knife skills, and know how to converse in the kitchen, meaning they know what a third pan is. Or they if you tell them something about the deep fryer, they know where the deep fryer is. So that they have this basic education, I call it boot camp education, and then put them into the great restaurants of Chicago...
The truth is that this program is on the west side of Chicago... It's less than an underserved neighborhood and yet there are so many diamonds in the rough there. And all we have to do is give them the right kind of training and sense of self-respect. Let them show that they can hold their own in a great Chicago restaurant, and their careers are starting. And so we are incredibly proud of what we've been able to do through that program and just getting better and better all the time.
The following are takeaway quotes from the graduation event's speakers, in the order that they spoke.
Lorraine Nguyen, Program Manager, Impact Culinary Training
Every single person here represents one of over 100 applicants who received a fully funded spot in our program....We told you you’d face challenges that you never imagined. There were trying times. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t always fun. However, I continued to push you because I knew you were all capable of pushing past good, and that you could be great. You embraced the unknown and trusted the process even when you were scared... From that, you’ve emerged with renewed passion and a stronger sense of self.
McCullough Kelly-Willis, Co-Founder, Chicago Meat Collective
What I’ve loved as an educator, that I strive to bring into my teaching, and have been inspired through my contact with all the folks here at Impact, is the focus on the soft skills. I see consistently that they create in their classrooms and environment where students learn not only how to properly maintain their station, how to clean, how to work with product, how to build first-in-first-out, how to label. They also learn how to listen, how to take and give feedback, how to have accountability for themselves in a workplace with each other, so much about respect, and so much about self-respect.
Jesus Maldonado, Sous Chef, Topolobampo (Frontera Restaurant Group)
Before we even grabbed a knife, you had a lot of questions, like how I balance my work life and my personal time, and how does my time at the restaurant affect my relationships with others. I did not expect any of those... You gave me a lot to think about. I think I have a better answer now. This industry does require a lot from you. It gets very hot, things get very intense, and sometimes, actually often, you will make mistakes. And that’s o.k. The thing I have learned is how to appreciate my time with others and myself, to value my time in and outside of work and make every day worth it.
Mattie-Young Burns, Property Manager of ICNC'S Make City Business Incubator and founding Program Manager at Impact Culinary Training
A couple of words of advice from watching your predecessors go from graduation to careers. Keep your networks strong and don’t hesitate to reach out to every single person who came to Impact over the past couple of weeks. They are your network and they’re the ones who are going to help you going forward. On that same vein, don’t burn bridges. Your chefs and mentors, your fellow classmates are going to be your bosses, your employees and your co-workers for the rest of your career. Strive to keep yourself healthy in your body and in your mind, so you can keep this career for a long time going forward. And don’t forget what got you here in the first place, which is your love of cooking and this industry.
Chef Kelly Dull, Impact Culinary Training Culinary Assistant
I’ve watched as you’ve all worked so hard and dedicated so much time to get to this moment. Every day, you chose to show up, not just for Impact but for yourselves. You have chosen to make an investment in your future. It wasn’t always easy, but you continue to push through any challenges, setbacks for yourselves. Along the way, you may have had things that were hard, frustrating or scary. You may have felt challenged or discouraged. Maybe you even thought about quitting but you didn’t. You pushed past those feelings of discomfort and frustration and you continued to show up, to learn and to grow. Going forward, you’ll continue to face challenges in your life and career. But you are all equipped with the knowledge, the skills and the confidence to face these challenges head on and overcome anything that is in your way. You can do hard things.
Chef Matthew Miller, Culinary Instructor
[Impact Culinary Training is] a team that’s really focused on continuous learning and improvement and thoughtful dedication... To the families, the friends, the communities of our graduates, recognizing the support that you’ve given to these talented folks so they could be sitting where they are, what you all do to allow them to be here, the support that you’ve shown them...
There are many restaurants, chefs, farmers, growers, friends of Impact that make it happen and it would take me all day to mention each and every one of them...
It fills me with pride to see this group here today. They put a lot of hard work and perseverance into this program. You’ve graduated from Impact Culinary Training! To see you all in your personalized jackets, you have earned those.
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And of course, it wouldn't have been a culinary school graduation without a meal.
Local Food Forum sends good luck and best wishes for success to the graduates. Stef Anderson, Kyla Brown, Raul E. Chacon Jr., K. Cam Dunbar, Adamaris Garcia, Dyman Jenkins, Alexis Johnson, Autumn Robinson, and Nelson Roman.
Click below to learn more about Impact Culinary Training and to apply for the next cohort, which begins in January.
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