Community Classroom Kitchen Initiative

Using Kitchen Skills to Teach Culinary Lessons & Lessons for Life

Community Classroom Kitchen (CCK) brings life skills into the kitchen and kitchen skills into life and is tapping into South Florida’s top culinary talent for programming, expertise and collective creativity.

CCK is committed to gathering families and neighbors together around a healthy dinner table, and that starts with training a culinary workforce that is passionate and equipped for health and success. Inspiring young adults to become food entrepreneurs is what we do. By connecting chefs and culinary experts with those who are eager to learn, we are able to co-create the future of the vital industry.

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Culinary Classes

By the Book: Tackle Recipes from the Cookbooks of Music Icons -Country Cooking

May 17th

If you can’t be a celebrity, at least you can cook like one! Chef Deb has read up on the hottest recipes from your favorite stars, and our music department has curated the perfect playlist for your journey from small-town to the big time! Adults.

Chef’s Table Dinner with Chef Blake

Jun 5th

One of South Florida’s most creative chefs is saluting the Sunshine State with a summer themed celebration of Florida’s best ingredients. Join Chef Blake Malatesta of The Wine Room and Radcliffe’s in Delray Beach, to kick off our Community Classroom Kitchen Summer Culinary Series! Tickets include a six-course feast plus wine. Adults.

Kitchen Heroics Mastering (not so) Challenging Dishes – Beef Wellington

Jun 8th

What, like it’s hard?! Get ready to bang out the fancy food without losing your cool. You’ll have everyone around your table wondering how you found the time and where you got your flair! Adults.

Easy Bake Oven: Master the Basics of Baking – Pate A Choux

Jul 13th

Become the baker your 9 year old self knew you were! Only this time, there’s commercial-size mixers and bigger metal sheet pans. Plus, the result will taste way better! Adults.

Kitchen Heroics: Mastering (not so challenging) Dishes – Scallops in Champagne Butter Sauce

Jul 20th

What, like it’s hard?! Get ready to bang out the fancy food without losing your cool. You’ll have everyone around your table wondering how you found the time and where you got your flair! Adults.

Kitchen Heroics: Mastering (not so) Challenging Dishes – Duck Breast with Port Cherry Sauce

Aug 24th

What, like it’s hard?! Get ready to bang out the fancy food without losing your cool. You’ll have everyone around your table wondering how you found the time and where you got your flair! Adults.

By the Book: Tackle Recipes from the Cookbooks of Music Icons – Hip Hop

Sep 13th

Cookin’ with Coolio, 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price, Snoop Dogg: From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes From tha Boss Dog’s Kitchen , Rapper’s Delight: The Hip Hop Cookbook. Adults.

Kitchen Heroics: Mastering (not so) Challenging Dishes – Lobster Ravioli

Sep 14th

What, like it’s hard?! Get ready to bang out the fancy food without losing your cool. You’ll have everyone around your table wondering how you found the time and where you got your flair! Adults.

Holiday REMIX: Celebratory Dishes Your Family Will Want Every Year – Thanksgiving Edition

Nov 13th

Change is good, but everything in the holiday meals bring us comfort because they take us back to the tastes of childhood. Rediscover your family favorites and let your inner child come out to make them even better. Adults.

All CCK programming connects participants from varied socio-economic backgrounds, neighborhoods, and cultures, allowing everyone to learn – and be nourished – together.

CCK Programs include:

• Cooking classes, workshops and parties
• Dinners & events
• Full production set for production of food-related media
• Front and back-of-the-house workforce training for teens and young adults
• Lending library for students and chefs
• Commissary and test kitchen for chefs and young food entrepreneurs
• One-For-One Meal Box Project
• Culinary Industry Think Tank for professionals

Expanding access to culinary education

CCK is fueled by a passionate group of chefs, culinary instructors, food entrepreneurs, educators, mental health providers and community leaders who are coming together to provide industry-changing programming that will expand access to culinary education.

Launched via lockdown

The Community Classroom Kitchen was launched during Covid-19’s lockdown when Founder, Ali Kaufman, and Founding Chef, Blake Malatesta, sought to solve a local food crisis and donated one meal box to a family in need for each meal box sold.

CCK is currently building a commercial teaching kitchen and an entrepreneurial test kitchen on the Space of Mind downtown Delray Beach campus. CCK will be open for full cooking classes, workshops, parties and events in Fall 2024.