Photo: Jay Willett/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — An after-school teen chef program in Boston began their 4th annual Summer Lunch Pop-Up event on Tuesday.
Future Chefs is a culinary organization that allows high schoolers to learn the ins and outs of working in a restaurant environment.
The chefs come up with new menu items and then show off their creations at events such as their Summer Lunch Pop-Up, where the public can try what they make from August 4 through August 6. Online orders are available.
Executive Director of Future Chefs Mark Dacruz detailed some of the food they are serving this year.
“Everything from spring rolls to berry habanero chicken sandwich to lychee lemonade to fresh berry salad,” Dacruz said. “It’s really global summer fusion as the inspiration.”
He also explained how the Future Chefs program gives teens a chance to learn skills they can bring with them anywhere they go, in or out of the kitchen.
“We’re really leaning into this knife skills and life skills,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for everyone to learn these critical thinking skills, problem solving skills and take them beyond.”
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Jayce Vickers is one of the chefs working at the pop-up, showing off the Biscoff cinnamon rolls she was making and talking about her experience of working on her culinary skills.
“I’ve been cooking ever since I was little, my mom’s Cuban, so you know food is a big part of our life,” Vickers said. “It (Future Chefs) gives you an insight of how it would be to work at any actual restaurant, it’s really cool.”
Arman Jarcia-Cutts was another chef in the program, and he discussed the amount of preparation that went into the event and the kinds of skills he and his fellow chefs were taking away from this experience.
“We put in, I’d like to say about 2 months of work, probably longer honestly because we started working even before the summer,” Jarcia-Cutts said. “Here we’re teaching people how to do simple household cooking, but also advanced techniques, showing them what it takes to be in the pro leagues.”
More information on Future Chefs and the Summer Lunch Pop-Up can be found here.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.