CHAPTER 1 - A Restaurant for Change

Before You Read - Learning to Cook·

A. Think about answers to these questions.

1. What are some ways people learn how to cook?
   
   Answer

   in a class in (high) school, culinary college, or evening classes; from their parents, family members, and friends; from TV cooking shows; from cookbooks or magazines; from the Internet; by working at a restaurant

2. Which of these ways would be useful for someone learning how to cook as a job?
   Answer

   Studying cooking at culinary college or by working at a restaurant

B. Discuss your answers with a partner.

A Restaurant for Change

Jamie Oliver wants to change peoples' lives and he is using food to do it. Oliver, a chef, is well-known for sharing his secrets of cooking healthy food through his magazine, cookbooks, and television shows. He is also changing lives through his Italian restaurant, Fifteen.

Fifteen started in London, England, as a place to train young adults to work in a kitchen. Oliver's idea was to create a professional kitchen that can help young people get a fresh start and a chance to become professional chefs.

Every September, a new group of 18- to 24-year-olds start work at Fifteen. When they start, they are usually not qualified for a restaurant job, but tha1 will change quickly. In the 12 months of training, the student chefs study cooking at college and get hands-on training .at the restaurant. Besides learning kitchen skills, they learn the importance of using fresh ingredients and how to create their own recipes. And their education doesn't stop with preparing and serving food. The students also learn how to manage money and deal with difficult customers. overall, the program encourages them to believe in themselves and enables them to look forward to a future in the restaurant business.

The restaurant's name, Fifteen, comes from the number of students the restaurant had when it started in 2002. Today, Oliver has three of these restaurants; and· a few hundred students have finished the program. Around 90 percent of the graduates are still working in the food industry. Some own restaurants or work in some of the best kitchens around the world. Others are now starring in their own TV shows. They're all great examples of what young people can do if they're given the opportunity and support.