Seven fidgety kids surrounded a stainless steel island in the
middle of a sun-drenched kitchen, each preparing a
”
gobbler salad sandwich.
”
Gilroy – Seven fidgety kids surrounded a stainless steel island in the middle of a sun-drenched kitchen, each preparing a “gobbler salad sandwich.”
“What do you like about it? What don’t you like about it? Think about the things you might change,” Lisa Muzzio said to the children as they devoured their turkey-salad snacks at the downtown Young Chefs Academy she and her sister, Lia Peterson, opened Aug. 6 at the corner of Lewis and Monterey streets.
“I like the carrots, peppers and turkey, but I don’t like the cranberries,” said Xavier Bowers, 9, a second-time student who shared the kitchen with his younger sister and older brother. Xavier’s moving on from peanut butter sandwiches, his mother said, and charging toward culinary creativity thanks to the academy’s subtle lessons in math, health and safety.
A successful chef requires mastery in these three areas, and at the Young Chefs Academy, Muzzio and Peterson develop a child’s autonomy by emphasizing nutrition before asking kids to pick certain ingredients and measure them appropriately.
“If you don’t have celery, what could you use instead, and how would that change the taste and texture of the dish?” Peterson inquired as an example of what she and her sister ask the children after giving them, say, a digestible lesson in nutrition or health.
“It’s nice because I know they’re learning safety in the kitchen,” said Jeana Bowers, Xavier’s mother. “Melesse always wants to cook at home, and here she’s learning how to,” Jeana said in reference to Xavier’s sister and her 6-year-old daughter. “She’s always washing her hands now, and she even caught me licking the spoon the other day when we were making cookies.”
To further bolster autonomy after this week’s lunch lessons – the children also received a lesson in alliteration by making “brown bag bean burritos” – September will be “secret ingredient” month.
Peterson and Muzzio will introduce a random ingredient, talk about its function and nutrition with the children, offer them some recipes, and then have teams create their own dishes, all the while teaching kids menu planning, table setting and napkin folding.
“We’re very conscious of health and making choices. We’re trying to get the kids to learn and understand without pushing it on them,” said Peterson, who also works part time as a market researcher in Milpitas. “It’s fun to cook, and they’re learning.”
While the four boys and three girls in their miniature aprons seemed to be having a ball with their finger food Wednesday, the rear kitchen remained empty. Two kitchens can each handle 10 young chefs among their rainbow cabinets and durable purple countertops that accent spotless appliances, but the school lacks a profitable enrollment, Peterson said.
Only about 100 kids have attended classes so far, but the franchise needs at least 16 kids a day during the four-day work week, and Peterson said they’ve averaged about four or five kids per class each day.
All the recipes stress health and require learned skills, Peterson said, and along with posters that emphasize kitchen safety and etiquette, the pre-approved dishes come from YCA headquarters in Waco, Texas.
More than 190 franchises have been sold for about $30,000 each since the YCA’s inception in April 2003, and Peterson and Muzzio owe the head Texas chef about $400 a month in royalties, according to the company’s Web site.
The Gilroy YCA is one of 10 in California, and the academy in Sunnyvale’s the closest to Gilroy.
Muzzio stumbled upon the business idea after reading an article about YCA in Working Mothers magazine last year. By November 2006 the sisters had signed the franchise agreement. They attended a training session in Waco last April before construction began on their downtown building in June, according to Peterson.
Among the regular courses each week, there are windows for 3- to 5-year-olds, or “Kindercooks,” to read books that emphasize math while they play with flour and sugar, Peterson said.
Playtime also comes in the form of birthday parties at YCA, where 10- to 12-year-olds can make pizzas by rolling their own dough, decorating the pizza (and wearing Kevlar gloves when they grate the cheese), and then singing “Happy Birthday” while the masterpiece bakes.
Whether it’s Alsatian Quiche or homemade fudgesicles, though, it’s clear that the Gilroy YCA is a place where parents and children can satisfy their respective appetites for education and taste.
“Kids are excited when they’re here,” said Muzzio, whose 9- and 6-year-old sons have taken classes along with Peterson’s 12- and 14-year-old daughters. “You don’t have to be strict and serious. There are rules, yes, and safety, yes, but kids are relaxed when they’re here.”
Despite low attendance, Muzzio said she’s confident business will pick up because “of those people that come in to check it out, the majority come back.” And of those kids that take classes, some don’t want to leave.
“You’re signing me up for another class, right?” asked one girl as she walked out of the YCA Wednesday holding her mother’s hand.
