Young Chefs Culinary Camps

Young Chefs Culinary Camps gives participants hands-on workshops that include cooking a range of different dishes each day. Camp sessions focus on learning basic cooking skills, fundamental culinary techniques, kitchen safety, and chef knife skills.

• Ages: 11–18 years old
• Schedule: All camp sessions run 10am–1:00pm unless otherwise specified.

All camp sessions are led by an experienced Chef Instructor. The leadership team includes Chef Dan Witherspoon (Director and Executive Chef; Owner, Director and Lead Instructor at The Seasoned Chef Cooking School), Kris Geeting (Lead Assistant), Michael O’Rourke (Operations Manager), Jodie Leschuk (Director of Product Development), Jessica Tepas (Blogger), Chef Andy Floyd (Instructor), and Chef Aarika Silva-Ortiz (Chef Instructor at The Seasoned Chef Cooking School). The Seasoned Chef Cooking School has been successfully teaching home and recreational cooks in the Denver area for over 25 years, and its goal statement notes that they have been teaching Denver to cook for over 30 years. The Seasoned Chef describes Chef Dan as an award-winning, classically trained chef and states that it boasts the largest team of instructors in the Denver area.

The program notes that it is celebrating 25 successful years teaching Young Chefs. It states that Culinary Camps for Young People support, nurture and expand kitchen awareness and change lives for the better through fresh food, and that students will learn the secret to all cooking: fundamental culinary techniques. The program states that cooking is technique-driven, not recipe-driven, and that camps take place in an approachable, fun environment. Maximum attendance is 16 per camp, and a sibling discount of 10% is available for all camps. The Seasoned Chef is a division of The Witherspoon Group. In the summer, The Seasoned Chef hosts Kid’s Camps for budding young chefs and regularly welcomes school and college groups for multi-day workshops at various locations in the Denver metro area.

Prior to attending, a parent or guardian must fill out a waiver and alert The Seasoned Chef to any food allergies, and is asked to note any special needs or food allergies ahead of class. Parents or guardians are asked to arrive 10–15 minutes before class to sign in and to make sure each Young Chef is dressed in appropriate clothing and closed-toed shoes. To receive the 10% sibling discount, a parent or guardian needs to call the office at the time of booking.

The Seasoned Chef lists an active relationship with several schools, including Colorado School of Mines, The Ricks Center at DU, Colorado Academy, Denver Academy, The Challenge School, and Denver Public Schools. The stated goal of The Seasoned Chef is to share its collective knowledge and to educate and inspire by providing food, tuition, and camaraderie through cooking classes for home and recreational cooks, along with customized interactive events for private and corporate groups.

Last updated June 3, 2026.