Jade and Chad Bogan, the couple behind Grafted Whiskey and Wine Bar, have a new venture. Grafted Kitchen is a culinary training program for at-risk youth ages 14-19. The goal is to provide the necessary skills and exposure to the culinary industry to create pathways to a better life.
The nonprofit will work with youth who have spent time in juvenile services or detention, have been on probation, have attended drug court or rehab programs and those who are unhoused.
The 12-month program is divided into four three-month intervals, beginning with textbook culinary skills and mental health services. The next two rotations see the group of 10 youth rotate through a hands-on kitchen training in the 2,500-square-foot kitchen on Oddie Boulevard.
The program ends with a three-month paid internship in one of the partner restaurants.
“We call ourselves a bridge,” Jade said. “You don’t come and stay with us forever.” Instead, the goal is to teach, train, equip and get kids into the workforce.
Graduates of the program will have valuable kitchen skills and a ServSafe certificate, which is needed to work in many back-of-house operations. Jade and Chad are also working with Truckee Meadows Community College and local kitchens to develop their own certificate that will better reflect the high-level skills students are learning.
Other training includes social-emotional skills, money management, budgeting, front-of-house operations and customer service.
With 10 students allowed per station, Grafted will be able to serve 40 students annually, with an initial 10 students to start.
Participants are chosen mainly through a referral-based system. Working with local nonprofits, qualified youth will be brought to Grafted Kitchen’s attention. Nonprofits and other programs will work together to identify candidates and enroll them in the program.
“Our goal is to really work together as nonprofits and maybe even show the community how awesome that is,” Jade said.
While fundraising is a large part of getting Grafted Kitchen up and running, the nonprofit will also be partially self-sustaining. The internships are paid, so youth are getting a paycheck while they work through the program, and part of that can be funded through catering services provided to schools and local events.
“Food is a connector,” Jade said. That simple fact helps a culinary program like this empower youth who are not making the best choices. They don’t have to have previous culinary experience; the program exists to show them a way out of their circumstances and help them realize other opportunities.
“There are a lot of opportunities within this industry,” Jade said. Restaurants and other businesses within the food and beverage world are often hiring, so job placement isn’t as challenging as some other industries. Plus, being able to cook can help with some of the financial burden for children who come from homes with food insecurity. As an added bonus, what they learn about nutrition can also benefit them at home and in their lives going forward.
Grafted Kitchen was inspired in large part by the death of Jade and Chad’s son. The couple, who have two biological children and four adopted children, have experience with kids from high-risk, high-trauma homes.
“When you’re a mom and you lose a son, it just creates this huge hole in your heart,” Jade explained. She decided to fill a bit of that hole with Grafted Kitchen, a program aimed to help those with some of the same challenges her son faced.
“He loved to cook,” Jade explained. Nightly family meals are a big part of life in the Bogan household. “That’s just the way we lived our lives was around the dinner table every night.”
It helped inspire what they call their family tagline, “show up and love well.”
