INSIDE A TEST kitchen on Albany Street, teenagers are rolling out dough for fluted tarts. Once the minicrusts are baked, they’ll be filled with pastry cream and fruit.
It’s dessert for a women’s shelter — and the finale of a summer program run by Future Chefs, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting urban kids with an interest in culinary arts to jobs. After cooking up 130 meals a day for middle-school campers and catering a luncheon for the mayor, these young people have clearly learned more than recipes. Future Chefs strives to provide a menu for success in life: teamwork, reliability, and ability to work under pressure.
“We’re not a cooking school,” said Toni Elka, the founder. “We are brokering a relationship between kids who need jobs and mentors and an industry that needs talent.”
Food, she said, “is the medium.”