Educating a new generation of Haitian chefs
WCK’s roots began in Haiti in 2010 when the country was hit by a devastating earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Following a trip to see how he could help, José founded World Central Kitchen with the belief that food can be a positive agent of change for communities in need.
To advance this vision, in 2015, WCK partnered with the Haitian Department of Education to create a professional culinary arts training program. After two years of growth, the program evolved into École des Chefs—WCK’s own culinary school in Port-au-Prince. The school—featuring a world-class, professional kitchen and full dining room for training and hosting of events—quickly became the country’s premier culinary training institution.
The École des Chefs curriculum focused on hands-on training under the tutelage of one of the most respected chefs in Haiti, Mi-sol Chevallier.
The school played a central role in WCK’s emergency response to the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti in August 2021. Chef Mi-sol, alongside École des Chefs students and graduates, transformed the school into a WCK Relief Kitchen and worked together to serve nourishing meals to impacted communities within the first 24 hours. The team went on to cook thousands of meals from this kitchen.
Meet Chef Mi-sol and her students
Together, Chef Mi-sol & WCK created a successful model for culinary education that graduated more than 180 chefs. Building on this success, the school is now launching as an independent organization called Atelier des Chefs—French for “chef’s workshop”.
The school remains an industry leader preparing the next generation of chefs for jobs in Haiti’s top commercial kitchens.
Atelier des Chefs stands ready to act as an emergency relief kitchen if the need ever arises again. Please contact Atelier des Chefs for any inquiries regarding the school.
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Since March, WCK has worked alongside NGO partners @HASHaiti and @COREresponse to provide meals to families in Haiti impacted by unrest. We distributed more than 750,000 warm, nourishing meals and 7,430 meal kits with fresh produce and dry goods to communities in need. Our efforts focused on supporting displaced families and children who are at risk of malnourishment.
