COOK! Programs

COOK! Programs focuses on cooking, with students working directly with ingredients and kitchen tools. The program uses whole ingredients and teaches students the techniques they need to use them. Cooking is also used as a space for collaboration with challenges that focus on personal development, skill building, and forming community.

• Ages: 9–17 years old
• Schedule: Camp is 5 days per week Monday–Friday 9a–2p

Since 2009, COOK! Programs teaches essential skills to kids and teens, building a foundation of healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Courses are described as fun, immersive, and educational, with a challenging and fun curriculum that emphasizes health, culture, and confidence. Students learn safety and technique, gain new skills, and form healthy habits in a collaborative and inclusive environment. COOK! Programs engages students with real life challenges and provides students opportunities to practice social justice, and there is a COOK! Advanced Placement (CAP) registration option.

The leadership team includes Ankit Patel (Owner & Director of Operations), Celeste Cooper (Summer Camp Director, Chef & Teacher and Director of Operations), Paige Reinis (Director of Online Learning, Chef & Teacher), Samantha Smith (Advisor, Intrepid Forager, Chef), and Elazar Sontag (Advisor, Former Student, Food-Writer). Ankit Patel staged at Flour & Water, Lazy Bear, Quince, Al’s Place, Roses Luxury (DC), Zaytinya (DC), and Le Pigeon (Portland). Celeste Cooper attended the California Culinary Academy for Baking and Pastry Arts in 2004, and working with young people in her community around food and how food plays a part in community health is a passion she has been able to foster within COOK! Programs. Paige Reinis is a graduate from the Institute of Culinary Education. In 1996, Francisco “Cisco” Machado won the Bay Area’s Regional James Beard Competition with his creation, the “Chocolate and Port Torte.”

One parent shared that the main highlight of their children’s summer was participation in COOK! Programs, noting that the children looked forward to attending camp each day, that they learned safe kitchen tool handling techniques from a team of culinary experts, and that this increased the parent’s confidence in allowing the children to help more in the kitchen. Another parent and educator described the staff as doing outstanding work with young people in a learning environment that has been eliminated in most public school settings, and said that through the lens of culinary arts, COOK! Programs engages students with real life challenges and provides students opportunities to practice social justice.

Last updated August 12, 2026.