Kitchen Brigades

The Kitchen Brigades program aims to encourage young people to adopt healthy eating and lifestyle habits, by helping them to develop their food self-sufficiency.

What is it? 

A group of 16 to 25 students follow the program throughout the year, benefiting from nearly 40 hours of hands-on training in cooking and healthy eating. The program's 24 workshops are organized as follows:

  • 18 culinary workshops on different themes
  • 3 challenges focusing on 3 topics: social, multicultural and creative
  • 1 special holiday workshop
  • 2 optional culinary workshops (at the school's discretion)

Objectives

  • Help students adopt better eating habits
  • Develop food autonomy by teaching basic culinary techniques
  • Stimulate team spirit, leadership and creativity among participants
  • Share the pleasure of cooking, eating together and discovering new foods

Competitions

The highlight of the program is the opportunity for students to take part in a national final, hosted by Ricardo, where one team is awarded the trophy for the best brigade in the country! For a preview of the 2024 edition, click here!

And that's not all! As of last year, the winning team had the chance to compete with the champions of La Tablée des Chefs France. This international culinary challenge alternates venues: one year, the students visit France to compete against French talent, and the following year, they welcome the French champions to Canada, for an exceptional culinary exchange! To view the video of the first edition, click here!

Frequently asked questions

La Tablée des Chefs engages a Chef Trainer as an independent contractor to purchase ingredients and deliver the weekly workshops. La Tablée des Chefs provides the training required to successfully carry out the mandate and provides a flat fee payment for the workshops delivered.


The school must, however, designate at least one staff member to support the implementation of the program. At least one support person must be present at each workshop to assist the Chef Trainer, manage attendance tracking, support challenges, and complete other related tasks. The support person’s involvement is estimated at approximately 70 hours for the full year, including their presence during workshops.

The program is designed to be implemented as an extracurricular activity, notably because a minimum time slot of 1h30 must be allocated to this activity. In special cases, it may be possible to implement the program in another way. Contact us for details.

A Kitchen Brigades group consists of between 16 and 25 students. The group is then divided into brigades of 4 or 5 students. The number of teams that can be registered depends on your kitchen space. Each team must have access to a minimum of 2 stove top elements, an oven rack and a workstation.

No. The school simply needs to make sure that the room used for the program has a minimum of 2 ovens (8 stove top elements and 4 oven racks), a refrigerated area and space to store dry goods. An inventory of basic kitchen utensils (e.g. pans, bowls, whisks, etc.) is also required. For a list of equipment required, please contact us. 

If you don't have suitable premises, you can ask a nearby establishment (e.g. a school or community center) with a kitchen to provide it for the duration of the workshops.

La Tablée des Chefs can help new schools to acquire kitchen equipment. Contact us to find out more about equipment loans.

La Tablée des Chefs retains the services of a Chef Trainer, as an independent contractor, to deliver the workshops. La Tablée des Chefs also provides the required educational materials, recipe ingredients, and, if needed, equipment loans for the first registration. In addition, personalized support is provided throughout the year.


The school, for its part, must provide an appropriate kitchen space to host the program, designate a contact person to liaise with the La Tablée des Chefs team, select a support person who will be present at each workshop, and cover the registration fees.

The program is worth $12,000 per group. Since La Tablée des Chefs works with several financial partners, the annual cost for a public school is $2,300. 
Please note, public schools must cover the cost incurred and therefore must offer the program free of charge to their students. It is also possible to obtain funding; find out about government support programs.

For private schools, contact us for registration details.

Testimonials

Student come here to learn, to cook for the first time sometimes. Some of them have little to no family support so it's amazing for them to see and cook new ingredients or produce they can't afford / have never eaten.

Person in charge

The Kitchen Brigades was an exceptional experience for me. Thanks to this activity, I was able to develop my passion for cooking. It helped me choose my post-secondary studies, because after high school, I made the decision to do a DEP in cooking.

Makayla

I really like this program. It teaches me many things, not just how to cook, but also how to communicate, work in a team, manage my time, take responsibility and do my best in a stressful environment. I recommend this program to anyone who wants to learn and improve in their everyday life. I look forward to more fun experiences with the chef.

Myroslava

—      Participating schools

Contact us!

Can't find the answer to your question? Don't hesitate to contact us for more details on the Kitchen Brigades program.  


[email protected]
450 748-1638 ext 2