Our pilot program at PS3
The Cooking Room currently operates through a dedicated kitchen classroom at the Greenwich Village-based P.S. 3 in NYC.
We started our pilot program at P.S. 3 in Autumn 2010 and we are continuing to experiment and learn what works in teaching kids about food and what doesn't. Both last school year and this, over 22 P.S. 3 teachers have signed up for time in The Cooking Room.
Cooking Room co-founder, chef/owner of Fatty Crab and Fatty 'Cue restaurants Zak Pelaccio has been the guiding force and innovator of our program. Last year Zak created and outlined Cooking Room lessons and during this past Summer, through the generosity of the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), we were able to hire Julie Negrin, food education professional, with over 15 years experience teaching cooking to kids, to write a sixteen-lesson curriculum. Additionally, Ann Yonetani, a Professor of Food Studies and The New School, came on board to expand the science aspects of the curriculum.
This school year, we rolled out our curriculum with nine classes agreeing to participate in the pilot. We had a guided vertical salt tasting (using six varieties of finish salts donated by The Meadow), and the children made their own mashed potatoes, enriching and seasoning to their own tastes.
Currently The Cooking Room solicits ingredients for each lesson from the parents of the P.S. 3 students and additional ingredients and equipment are purchased out of pocket by our core group of Cooking Room founders.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested in helping/volunteering. You can also make a donation through this website; any donation made to our non-profit is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Donations will go to purchasing ingredients and equipment for the classes.
We started our pilot program at P.S. 3 in Autumn 2010 and we are continuing to experiment and learn what works in teaching kids about food and what doesn't. Both last school year and this, over 22 P.S. 3 teachers have signed up for time in The Cooking Room.
Cooking Room co-founder, chef/owner of Fatty Crab and Fatty 'Cue restaurants Zak Pelaccio has been the guiding force and innovator of our program. Last year Zak created and outlined Cooking Room lessons and during this past Summer, through the generosity of the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), we were able to hire Julie Negrin, food education professional, with over 15 years experience teaching cooking to kids, to write a sixteen-lesson curriculum. Additionally, Ann Yonetani, a Professor of Food Studies and The New School, came on board to expand the science aspects of the curriculum.
This school year, we rolled out our curriculum with nine classes agreeing to participate in the pilot. We had a guided vertical salt tasting (using six varieties of finish salts donated by The Meadow), and the children made their own mashed potatoes, enriching and seasoning to their own tastes.
Currently The Cooking Room solicits ingredients for each lesson from the parents of the P.S. 3 students and additional ingredients and equipment are purchased out of pocket by our core group of Cooking Room founders.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested in helping/volunteering. You can also make a donation through this website; any donation made to our non-profit is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Donations will go to purchasing ingredients and equipment for the classes.