Reconnect’s Culinary Program

The Reconnect Culinary Program provides hands-on, direct training on the job for our youth partners. The program has two elements:

  • A food service operation providing nutritious meals, beverages and snacks for the residents of the Passionist Monastery 365 days a year.

  • A catering operation that provides refreshments and meals for participants of events at the Thomas Berry Place Retreat Center. Events take place year-round.

Our youth partners are 17 - 24 year old men who come to us from our local surrounding communities and through referrals with other social service providers. For a majority of our youth partners, the job with us is their first work experience; some have previously held short-term entry-level jobs. 

We employ our youth partners for three months, providing them direct on-the-job training and supervision. 


Our training takes place on our campus with two fully utfitted kitchens, one of which is being converted to a commercial kitchen this year. 

Our program prepares our youth partners to be ready for the New York City Food Protection License. We provide hands-on training focusing on both the essential and technical skills food service employers need from entry-level applicants.

  • •Time Management/Reliability

    •Ability to listen carefully and follow instructions carefully

    •Project/Menu Management

    •Customer Service/Hospitality

    •Successful relations with authority figures/navigating kitchen hierarchy

    •Effective team work/being an effective team member

    •Critical thinking/problem solving

    •Anger management/self containment/regulation

  • •Introduction to knife skills and knife cuts

    •Measurement/using metric and standard units of measure

    •Deciphering and following recipes

    •Ability to work at every kitchen station: food preparation/menu preparation, grill/range/standard and convection ovens, storage/supplies/inventory, kitchen porter, dish and pot sanitization

    •Knowledge of basic/common kitchen cleaning utensils, equipment and supplies

    •Knowledge and use of universal precautions and applying PPE in the workplace

    •Knowledge of food temperatures and sanitation

    •Knowledge of HACCP

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