About
Cook! Culinary Programs offers cooking classes for kids and teenagers, including individual and group classes. The program also runs summer camps, online summer camps, and online classes that focus on cooking activities. In addition to youth programs, Cook! Culinary Programs once taught the animators at Pixar how to cook for the production of Ratatouille.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
Cook! Culinary Programs was founded by Tracy Paulding in Emeryville, California. It has a 13-year legacy as a culinary education brand for kids, with 13+ years of history, and the Emeryville location had 15 years of history at its address. The program is described as a 13-year brand built on food, education, and community, and its cooking education for kids is described as building life skills, promoting healthy eating, and strengthening communities. During the COVID-19 shutdowns, Cook! Culinary Programs pivoted to online summer camps and classes within weeks.
Cook! Culinary Programs later reopened with a new retail location in Hayward, California after the Emeryville location closed and went from zero to 80% sold out within one month of opening the Hayward location using only grassroots guerrilla marketing with no paid ads and no agency. The program has operated part-time, teaching individual and group classes while seeking a permanent location, and has been actively searching for a permanent California home or expansion to Asia. Its work with Pixar’s Ratatouille production is described as a notable credential. The program’s acquisition included a values-aligned partnership structure rather than a pure buyout and produced a 50% ROI over a 2-year hold for investors while preserving the founder’s upside, with a stated priority of preserving the mission of cooking education for kids and its community impact.
Last updated April 15, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
Cook! Culinary Programs was founded by Tracy Paulding in Emeryville, California. It has a 13-year legacy as a culinary education brand for kids, with 13+ years of history, and the Emeryville location had 15 years of history at its address. The program is described as a 13-year brand built on food, education, and community, and its cooking education for kids is described as building life skills, promoting healthy eating, and strengthening communities. During the COVID-19 shutdowns, Cook! Culinary Programs pivoted to online summer camps and classes within weeks.
Cook! Culinary Programs later reopened with a new retail location in Hayward, California after the Emeryville location closed and went from zero to 80% sold out within one month of opening the Hayward location using only grassroots guerrilla marketing with no paid ads and no agency. The program has operated part-time, teaching individual and group classes while seeking a permanent location, and has been actively searching for a permanent California home or expansion to Asia. Its work with Pixar’s Ratatouille production is described as a notable credential. The program’s acquisition included a values-aligned partnership structure rather than a pure buyout and produced a 50% ROI over a 2-year hold for investors while preserving the founder’s upside, with a stated priority of preserving the mission of cooking education for kids and its community impact.
Last updated April 15, 2026.
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