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NEWS
Kitchen to be ready by next month
Ashley Thompson, Director of the Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Life Program, left and Jillian Moore, Kitchen Manager, are shown, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010, in Huntington's Kitchen (formerly Jamie's Kitchen) on 3rd Avenue.
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HUNTINGTON -- Although the date for the grand reopening has not been set, Huntington's Kitchen, located on 3rd Avenue across from Pullman Square, is accepting new students for the month of February.
"We are hoping to get started with our regular classes in mid to late February, ideally Feb. 15," said Ashley Thompson, a program coordinator at Ebenezer Medical Outreach.
The kitchen is still in need of some electrical and gas line work before it can meet codes regulated by the Cabell County Health Department. They are hoping to complete it in the near future.
Staff members have been in contact with one plumber and other volunteers to help, but any additional professional help would be appreciated, she said.
Jamie Oliver came to Huntington last fall to film an unscripted television series about improving the area's eating habits by means of Jamie's Kitchen, rechristened Huntington's Kitchen. The series is scheduled to air on ABC in March, and the kitchen is now under the wings of Ebenezer Medical Outreach, a free health clinic in Fairfield West.
"We were trained for five days in his test kitchens on the recipes that we would be teaching the community from his Food Revolution cookbook," Thompson said.
The first scheduled use of the facility is Feb. 4, a Dining with Diabetes class sponsored by the West Virginia University Cabell County Extension office.
It is a food demonstration, so although the full kitchen does not have to meet the codes, Thompson said it would help. Another program -- the Let's Get Moving childhood obesity movement -- is scheduled to use the facility Feb. 20.
Thompson and kitchen manager Jill Moore recently returned from the United Kingdom for training in Jamie Oliver's test kitchens and to visit his kitchens in Rotherham and Bradford to see how they operated.
"It was a lot of information to gather within a short period of time, but both Jill and I feel confident in keeping Jamie's style as well as adapting his style of cooking and mission of 'passing it on' to our culture."
The regular classes will be 10-week courses. The goal is to begin with three classes per day with 12 spots available each session.
Those who attend will benefit from the training with a better understanding of cooking from scratch and bringing the family back to the table for dinner, she said.
"We are hoping that all 12 slots will be filled," Thompson said. "Those individuals that have been through a class or classes, we hope that they contact us to refresh their cooking skills."
The staff is also seeking volunteers to help with the kitchen.
To sign up for a class, contact Moore at 304-522-0887.
The classes are $10 each, but scholarships are available.
Cabell Huntington Hospital donated $50,000 to keep the efforts going in the kitchen, but the kitchen is still in need of additional money.
"We are still waiting for (additional) pledges that were made earlier to come in," Thompson said. "EMO is trying to find extra funding to allow the city of Huntington to get started on this lifestyle change."
Huntington's Kitchen is accepting new students for mid-February classes. The classes are $10 each, but scholarships are available. To sign up for a class, contact Jill Moore at 304-522-0887.
