The Nonprofit Culinary Hub of Providence Provides On-the-Job Training for the State’s Next Culinary Professionals
Alot of learning can happen in the classroom but to really understand the restaurant industry, culinary students need customers, explained chef Joshua Riazi, chief operating officer of The Culinary Hub of Providence, also known as CHOP.
That was the impetus behind the creation of the Genesis Center’s new restaurant, located within the Providence Public Library in the capital city’s downtown. It serves as an allday eatery, bar and coffee shop—and, central to its mission, as a training ground for students from the West End nonprofit’s long-running culinary arts education program. The Genesis Center offers support and job training for immigrants, refugees and low-income families.
“There’s a lot of nuance that you need to learn on the job,” Riazi said. “So, we created CHOP as a social enterprise to support the center’s culinary workforce training program and provide an opportunity for really talented students to hone their skills and showcase some of their knowledge.”
Students who have gone through the nonprofit’s eight-week culinary workforce development program are eligible to receive additional on-the-job training at the restaurant, a sprawling, inviting space with high ceilings and book-themed decor. They can take on various roles, from cooking to food running to beverage service, typically working 15 to 35 hours a week under the mentorship of instructors and experienced industry professionals.
“Our expectation is that a customer coming in is getting the same quality experience that they would at any other restaurant.”
“We use regular restaurant metrics for everything,” Riazi said. “Our expectation is that a customer coming in is getting the same quality experience that they would at any other restaurant.”
CHOP is an ambitious undertaking, with extensive breakfast, lunch, dinner and beverage menus, including a full cocktail list and coffee bar with espresso drinks made using New Harvest beans. The menu is globally inspired: Lunch options include various sandwiches, like a pork belly banh mi and a Peruvian fried chicken sandwich, as well as salad and bowl options incorporating Korean, Caribbean and Indian flavors. The higher-end dinner menu features appetizers, small plates and entrées, ranging from a Middle Eastern mezze platter to Cantonese-style barbecue pork to the French seafood stew bouillabaisse.
The menu reflects the diversity of the students in the training program, who are encouraged to suggest flavor profiles and develop dishes.
“Our instructors are constantly engaging in conversations with students about what they already know,” Riazi said, “and those conversations are the genesis of a lot of ideas that end up on the menu.”
For example, classical French cooking techniques are often found in Haitian cuisine, and a past student with a Haitian background suggested using a French-style laminated pastry dough to create a meat pie that was featured in the restaurant’s bakery case.
The opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds was one of the things that drew Riazi, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University’s culinary arts program, to his role as a cooking educator and leader at the Genesis Center.
“My parents always instilled in me that education is a key part of life, and they were also immigrants, who emigrated from Iran in the early ’80s,” he said. “So, while I went to Johnson & Wales, we’re in an industry where there are a lot of different paths to success and entrepreneurship. I wanted to be able to contribute to others who maybe don’t have the same opportunities that I did.”
Since it opened in October, CHOP has also drawn a diverse customer base ranging from college students to lawmakers and nonprofit leaders. That was another goal of the project and is fitting given its name, Riazi added. “We really notice the space is used as a meeting and collaborative space for people from a variety of walks of life, which is exactly what we wanted—to create a community hub that centers around food,” he said.
Providence-based KITE architects and interior designer Kyla Coburn fashioned a space that is adaptable for various uses, ranging from an event venue to coffee shop hangout to more formal evening dining room.
Depending on their specific role at the restaurant and experience level, students may intern in the restaurant as part of their training program, which typically costs about $6,000 but is little or no cost to them—or they may work as an employee for an hourly wage.
As a nonprofit restaurant, community support from a variety of donors and grant funders has been essential to getting it up and running.
The project would not have been possible without the support of another nonprofit, the Providence Public Library, which had previously been using the space as a storage area, Riazi said. Every customer also supports the operation through an 18% service charge that is added to each bill as a charitable donation.
The idea for the restaurant began many years ago after Riazi and Genesis Center CEO Shannon Carroll toured the library while it was undergoing renovations.
“The synergy was there from two like-minded nonprofits wanting to help the community,” Riazi said. “We were able to work with our landlord, the Providence Public Library, to structure a deal where we could fundraise for several years to be able to fund the buildout. This project is the result of years and years of hard work and perseverance.”
The Culinary Hub of Providence (CHOP)
211 Washington St., Providence
401.429.2450; CulinaryHubPVD.com.
For Chef/COO Joshua Riazi’s recipe for Strawberry Saffron Granita, see below.
Jenna Pelletier is a Rhode Island–based features journalist who has worked on staff as a writer and editor at Boston magazine, The Providence Journal and Rhode Island Monthly. Her food writing has also been published in Food & Wine and The Boston Globe.
