World-renowned celebrity chef G. Garvin has packed his apron and oven mitts for a road trip. The G. Garvin Culinary Bootcamp 2010 commences in his Atlanta hometown on July 25 and then travels to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and South Carolina to educate and empower teens ages 16–19.
“We have put together an incredible list of events for the week. For Sunday, my mother has graciously [agreed to] make a big meal, a welcome dinner, and have a meet and greet around the pool. Monday, it’s right down to business, classroom activities in the morning and cooking in the afternoon,” Garvin shares about the event hosted by his One Bite at a Time Foundation Inc.
Garvin remembers his own experiences as a youth. “I realized there were kids who were finding themselves without a career choice because they don’t play basketball, football or baseball, or rap, which seems to be the most popular. I was that kid,” he says. “I wanted to provide them with opportunities that they probably hadn’t thought about, which is the culinary field.”
The 30 participants in each city will learn the fine art of cooking and culinary services, be exposed to the multiple aspects of the hospitality industry, arouse their senses to design and develop palatable delights and create delicacies that are both innovative and healthful.
In Atlanta, “The students will do a walk-through with the chef at the Four Seasons Hotel and another at Sam’s Club, a demo at Cisco Foods and they will visit rapper-actor Ludacris’ restaurant, Straits … and I have some great guest speakers,” he reveals. “It’s a wonderful event that we have worked on all year and [we] are really excited about the kids and [hope] they have a great time.”
In addition to the boot camp, the foundation “helps families who are having a tough time with their bills, raises money to help victims of domestic violence, and next year we will have a celebrity basketball game to raise money for the kids … anything that we can do to help the community, is what my foundation is about,” he concludes. –yvette caslin
For more information, visit www.chefgarvin.com.
