The CookWell program has now completed its 4th week and our trainees have begun their apprenticeships with our local restaurant partners, Acacia and Leonardo’s II. We began the week with a roundtable discussion at PCOL where members of the community heard a program update from some members of the CookWell team and had their questions answered. On Wednesday, October 24, Jeff and Anita joined the trainees and CookWell culinary instructor Frank Benowitz to listen to an inspirational presentation by Chef Jeff Henderson at the Rescue Mission of Trenton. Chef Henderson shared the story of his journey from being a convicted drug dealer to a celebrated chef; his talk was both inspirational and educational. We will share the link once the Rescue Mission posts his presentation on YouTube. Kris Deni assisted Frank in the kitchen on Friday and reported that they learned about mangalista pork and made meatloaf, crabcakes, dirty shrimp, crab stuffed shrimp, crab stuffed mushrooms, and pork stuffed mushrooms.

Anita Narayan