On Friday, March 15 at 1 pm Workspace Education held a ribbon-cutting event for its state-of-the-art restaurant-grade kitchen, to be known as the Workspace Education Culinary Learning Lab. In tandem with new coursework in Organic Farming, it will become the core of a “Farm-To-Table” cooking and dining program, which is a new example of Workspace’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
The kitchen will be the hearth of the Workspace community. Breakfast and lunch will be served daily in the cafe area of the Hub, the central space of the facility. Classes will be taught every afternoon. In the evenings, the kitchen will host cooking classes for the general public, and also will be used to cater events that are held at Workspace, so it will also serve as a culinary resource for the Bethel community at large.
The kitchen is what is known in culinary arts programs as a “Realistic Working Environment,” or “RWE.” RWEs offer students the same experience as working in a true restaurant kitchen, which is invaluable for those seeking a career in the field. In addition, because the kitchen is both an RWE and also has passed all necessary inspections, it can serve not just as a training classroom, but as a legitimately permitted restaurant kitchen, and thus the food produced can be sold to the public.
The Workspace Education educational model stresses project-based learning using both real-world skills and the latest technology. Learners solve problems through collaboration and design thinking. Entrepreneurship is cultivated. The culinary learning lab kitchen is a perfect reflection of these goals. Cooking is a key real-world skill. Design thinking is used throughout the baking and cooking processes. The kitchen features the latest and best kitchen technology available. Our learners will be able to gain skills that they will use throughout their lives, and perhaps some of them will become culinary entrepreneurs and professionals. Furthermore, Workspace features other kinds of learning labs, such as a makery and a science lab, so this continues the hands-on “learning lab” concept within Workspace.
The farm-to-table program was developed in tandem with Workspace’s Organic Gardening coursework, new for the 2018-2019 year. Produce grown by learners in the Workspace garden, which is directly on the Workspace property, will be used in recipes that will then be sold in the dining area, known as the Hub. This program will help teach our learners the virtues of a whole-food, fresh-grown diet, in addition to the cooking and gardening skills they will use for a lifetime. It is hoped that this program will inspire lifelong appreciation of the importance of local agriculture, as well as the need for sustainability in every aspect of culture.
Among the features of the kitchen are two six-range stoves, four grills, griddles, grills, a pizza oven, convection oven for pastry cooking, custom-designed prep areas and bakery kneading boards, a professional dough mixer, restaurant-grade dishwashing and cleaning stations, and much more.
Kitchen cooking and baking coursework will be taught by both internal Workspace educators and external professional chefs and bakers. A listing of courses will be made available soon.
About Workspace Education
Workspace Education is a 501c(3) not-for-profit organization in Bethel, CT that brings together a state-of-the-art facility, educators, and homeschooling families. Workspace learners practice both the foundational literacies and receive an education that is customized to each individual child. We are a unique, co-learning community that offers a new model of what education can be. Workspace Education maintains a comprehensive database of resources, tutors, and specialists; develops workshops, educational opportunities, and training for parents; features learning labs and other tech-enabled spaces; offers classes taught by its own staff; and provides access to a resource library of K-12 curricula. For more information visit https://workspaceeducation.org/
