High Schoolers Show Their Culinary Chops By Preparing Multi-Course Meals with Local Produce
When I asked 16-year-old chef Kiara McCracken what she hoped her 20 guests would get out of five-course dinner, she replied confidently “I want people to walk away saying ‘Wow, I didn’t know someone so young could pack such a punch.’ I want them to see that I’m something to be reckoned with.”
Earlier this fall, chef Kiara delivered on those promises. To celebrate the end of her summer internship with Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), “a national non-profit that educates and guides underserved high school students… [via] culinary training and career exploration” and Local Roots NYC, a local food share service, the celebratory family-style meal at The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg began with a beautiful beet hummus—a bold choice, considering her mother doesn’t like beets, she told me.