Students get schooled in the art of the meal by celebrity chef Diane Kochilas at Beaver Creek Culinary Weekend
Students are part of YouthPower365’s culinary club
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
Among the renowned chefs in town for the Beaver Creek Winter Culinary Weekend was a group of local middle school students.
The students, all members of YouthPower365’s middle school culinary club, joined Santosh Koradi, executive chef at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, and Diane Kochilas for a multi-course Mediterranean meal on Friday evening.
Kochilas is a celebrity chef known for her expertise in Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. In addition to hosting a cooking travel show, “My Greek Table,” Kochilas has written more than 18 books on the cuisine and runs the Glorious Greek Kitchen on Ikaria Cooking School every spring and fall on the island.
The experience allowed students to see first-hand how such a meal comes together, from start to finish, while also helping the chefs. Koradi said that the students were given the chance to engage with “each and every corner” of the meal.
In participating in the event, students were able to bring the knowledge they’ve gained from Koradi and the YouthPower365 culinary club into a real-world experience.
Support Local Journalism
Koradi has played a pivotal role in YouthPower365’s new culinary club for middle school students, which the organization began piloting in the spring of 2023. The club is one of the organization’s after-school programs, meant to spark students’ interest in a variety of areas.
“We started the culinary club to try to harness a lot of different student interests. All students love food, and having healthy snacks after school is really important to us and the kids, so this is a way for them to learn about other cultures, read recipes, write down recipes, and use math for measurements and conversions and work on friendship and teamwork,” said Kaitlyn Merriman, YouthPower365’s manager of youth and family programs.
The club brings together students with different skill sets and learning styles around a common thing: food.
Koradi was brought in from the start and helped develop the program as a guest chef, Merriman said.
“He would go to the schools and teach basic culinary skills to our students and talk about his career and how he ended up where he is today,” she said, adding that Koradi has provided mentorship and motivation for many students to pursue culinary arts as a career.
“It’s a very clear career pathway,” Merriman said. “The club identifies a career pathway for students if this is something they’re interested in and passionate about, but also just empowers them to make healthy decisions. It gives them the knowledge that they can be in charge of what they eat, how they eat it and gives them a sense of confidence in being able to make their own decisions.”
Koradi himself has served as a chef in seven different countries working for a variety of brands and corporations. After working in Dubai, the Seychelles, Nairobi, Egypt, Nepal and the Bahamas, he moved to the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek in 2021.
When asked to help with the culinary club, Koradi immediately jumped at the opportunity to share his craft with the middle schoolers.
“Kids are very energetic; they love to see all the different sides of food,” Koradi said.
In addition to teaching them cooking basics, Koradi said he aims to teach them about culinary and food history — answering questions about where certain food items come from— as well as industry knowledge. This includes talking to them about menu creation for different cuisines as well as teaching them about food costs and what it takes to run and operate a restaurant.
Koradi said the students have even taught him a few things due to the sheer number of questions they ask. He admitted he’s sometimes had to do his own research before returning to the students with answers.
“Kids always love to come and see the kitchen,” Koradi said, adding that Culinary Weekend gives students a chance to see and work in the kitchen during a fine dining experience and high-pressure event.
Koradi’s involvement — as well as the students’ participation in Culinary Weekend — “shows the students the professional side of things, where if they were to pursue that as a career, this is potentially a glimpse into that life,” Merriman added.
Last year, the club started at just two schools, but due to the demand and popularity, it is now being offered at all four Eagle County School District middle schools: Homestake Peak, Berry Creek, Eagle Valley and Gypsum Creek.
“Students have been very enthusiastic about it,” Merriman said. “Every club at each of the four middle schools is full and has a waiting list.”
Never ask “What should we do this weekend?” again. Get a weekly rundown of all the best happenings in the Vail Valley sent to your inbox every Friday. Sign up here: VailDaily.com/newsletter
As the club grows, Merriman added that the organization is looking for ways to engage students’ families in the program as well.
“In our busy lives, it’s really easy to forget that sitting down and having a meal together can be one of the best ways to connect with your family. And so we also really want to promote that idea of involving families, she said.
