Young Chefs Academy of Knoxville

Young Chefs Academy of Knoxville

The following Knoxville Mom and Pop story about Young Chefs Academy is a special one about three sisters who came together to form a business that echoes their own happy childhood in their mother's kitchen.

Now they share that experience and passion for the fun of cooking with a whole new generation.

Knoxville Business: Who are the three cooking sisters?

Young Chefs Academy: Kim Godsmark, Cindy Irwin and Tina Vaughn

Knoxville Business: How did you decide to open a Young Chef's Academy?

Young Chefs Academy: All three of us have a love for children so we knew we wanted to our business to be kid focused. Our mother had taught all of us to cook when we were very young and we all three enjoy creating in the kitchen. So, when we came across the Young Chefs Academy concept we knew it was what we wanted to do.

Knoxville Business: How long has your Knoxville Academy been in business?

Young Chefs Academy: We opened on September 16, 2006

Knoxville Business: Do you have any favorite stories about your work with children at the Young Chef's Academy (a couple funny/sweet anecdotes could be nice here)?

Young Chefs Academy:

When Riley (age 4) was told that they were on their way to Young Chefs Academy for class she proclaimed �Woohoo! We are chefing today!!�
During one of our special events Madison (age 3) said "This is more fun than the fantasy of trees!"
Chefs Club members, Amelia (age 10) and Tanner (age 11), love to watch the Food Network � they both know all of the celebrity chefs � they aspire to be great chefs one day!
Chefs Club member Hannah (age 8) attends class faithfully every week � each week she informs us of what she does and does not like � at the end of class when we taste the foods we have made in class that day she tries everything � and every time she decides that she likes something that she didn�t think she liked before.

Knoxville Business: Do you have any goals for the Academy that you'd like to share with our readers?

Young Chefs Academy: The objectives of our Academy are to teach children to cook AND to have fun and enjoy being in the kitchen. We would love for our kitchen to be filled with children having fun and learning to cook ...we would love to see our Chefs Club memberships increase. We also have hopes of opening a second store. Another goal we have is to begin having classes for the Young at Heart (classes for adults) � we just need to know that there is interest in this type of class!

Knoxville Business: Is there anything exciting coming up? Any special events or other notable items you'd like to mention?

Young Chefs Academy: We were approached by Disney/Pixar to be promotional partners with them for their upcoming release of their new movie, Ratatouille. Saturday, June 23 (10:00 AM to 2:00 PM) we are having an Open House to promote the new Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille.

Summer Mini-Camps: The theme of our mini-camps is Roadtrip Across America. Each week we are learning about and learning to prepare dishes from different regions of the country. The remaining summer camps are June 26-28 (Midwest), July 10 � 12 (Southwest), July 17-19 (Rocky Mountains) and July 24-26 (Pacific States).

Every month we offer a Parents Night Out and a Cooking Together Class (parent/child class).

Our regular schedule includes weekly classes for ages 3 to 14, birthday parties, field trips, scout troops, homeschool groups and seasonal events.

Knoxville Business: Thanks for sharing your business story with us. Good luck!

Return to Mom and Pop from Young Chefs Academy

Return to Knoxville Business from Young Chef's Academy