Behind the nonprofit helping a diverse new generation of culinary professionals heat up New York

NEW YORK (AP) — A side of beef bigger than a classroom desktop sat before high school students huddled around a kitchen on New York's Lower East Side. “Anyone wanna jump in?” asked the butcher teaching the Tuesday afternoon class. One student dared, grabbing a sawblade about as long as his arm and sweating to successfully separate the short rib from the rib eye.

These demos are regularly hosted by the Food Education Fund. The local nonprofit seeks to make culinary careers more accessible through hands-on experiences and mentorship for low-income students of color at ten high schools. More than half of participants are Hispanic, over one third are Black and the vast majority live below the poverty line.

The hope is that stronger support for young cooks in one of the world's top food destinations will bring much-needed diversity to the industry's highest rungs. Chefs of color lead just a fraction of the North American restaurants awarded a coveted Michelin star and research shows non-white fine dining employees are less likely to be promoted, according to the tire company behind the guidebook that has become a gastronomical bible of sorts.

As restaurants rebound from pandemic stressors that sent many burnt-out staff looking for new careers and upended customer behavior around in-person dining, the nonprofit wants to instill a new generation with the love of feeding others. Hospitality magnate Sean Feeney said he's found that New York's youth still want to rebuild that culture.