Hopeful youth chefs create 4-course dinner in SkyART, TXA TXA Club collaboration

Chicago Tribune

21-04-2025

Eleven-year-old Jaheim Hall said he dreams of being on Gordon Ramsay's 'MasterChef Junior,' a cooking competition where the stakes are high and the pressure is on to impress one of TV's most critical chefs.
In the meantime, cooking and serving dinner to more than 50 guests in SkyART's newly opened space in Garfield Park is a close second.
'I'm a little nervous but not really; sometimes I cook for my mom and sometimes my family will tell me to make them things like a burger and I'll make it,' Jaheim said as he helped plate the first course Thursday alongside chefs from TXA TXA Club, the Logan Square-based creative culinary studio, in a collaboration with SkyART, a nonprofit that provides a range of free visual art programs to Chicago's underserved youth. 'I've always wanted to make Gordon Ramsay's beef Wellington — I'm going to one day.'
Jaheim is one of three students from SkyART's programs chosen to cook with chefs from TXA TXA Club for SkyART's 'Family Table' program, a multi-sensory experience that combines food, art and community and centers on feeding kids and using the nonprofit's organic produce from the garden at the South Side location.
Thursday's dinner was inspired by Chicago-based artist and perfumer Matt Morris, whose 'powder room dining room, a ladies' room' installation is on display at SkyART's new studio at 3450 W. Lake St.
Jaheim was dashing around the kitchen with 15-year-old Chimalli Licona and 19-year-old Jermaine Brown Jr. — each one in charge of introducing a dish to the 'chef's table' across the kitchen and a much larger table of 50 upstairs. Jermaine and Chimalli are part of SkyART's Project 3rd Space program open to ages 14 to 24, while Jaheim takes part in the nonprofit's SkyWAY program for ages 7 to 13.
They joked around with each other throughout the evening but flipped a switch back to business when TXA TXA Club co-founder and chef Daniel Parker asked them to 'wipe the plates' before each course.
Parker, along with Liz Bendure, chef and co-founder of TXA TXA Club, and professional chef Moody Abdul were giving the young men a crash course on working on the line at a fancy restaurant.
The four-course dinner started with a salad of orange cauliflower with sesame leaf, arugula and za'atar, the Palestinian spice mix.
'We chose cauliflower because we eat so healthy at SkyART and (the cauliflower) is cloud-like and fluffy, which was inspired by (themes) in Matt's art,' said Jermaine, who presented the bright and juicy dish.
It was met with several 'oohs' and 'aahs' from guests at the chef's table, which included board members, parents of the young chefs and some SkyART staff.
The cauliflower was followed by a raviolo gigante — a large square of house-made pasta filled with lemon and ricotta and draped with a pink-ish beet sauce. The raviolo was topped with a sunflower seed dukkah.
'Make sure you walk all the way around and put it next to them,' Bendure gently reminded the young chefs and other SkyART students who were helping with service.
A glazed pork tenderloin with a strawberry and black pepper sauce was the main course, followed by an airy sweet potato custard with ube, jasmine whipped cream and kinako.
'Kinako is made from roasted soybean flour,' Chimalli said, noting that the topping adds a nuttiness to the otherwise sweet dessert.
Chimalli said he makes a 'bunch of desserts' at home, as well as fried chicken. The experience working with professional chefs was 'many things,' he said, but mostly exciting and nerve-wracking because he didn't want to disappoint them.
'They work so fast and everything runs so smoothly,' Chimalli said.
Bendure said they sat down with Chimalli, Jaheim and Jermaine to conceptualize the menu based on Morris' art installation and then spent Wednesday afternoon prepping sauces, making the ravioli dough and other components of the meal that are better made ahead.
'With the artist's work in front of us, we talked about how it could translate into food — how does it feel, what does it smell like, what does it look like?'' Bendure said. 'Food is so exploratory and brings out our own experiences. It's been beautiful to see cooking and curating a menu through fresh eyes.'
Jaheim's mother, Sherida Hall, was watching proudly as her son and his friends tapped into a newfound confidence, following orders on cue and garnishing each plate with precision and focus.
'He's just so calm, it's really something,' Hall said. 'You know, SkyART is just a wonderful place — Jaheim gets to do what he loves and it keeps him out of the streets — with everything going on out there. This is a safe space.'
There was so much interest in cooking with the professional chefs from TXA TXA Club, said Casey Smallwood, SkyART's director of programs, that the staff had to throw together a pasta cook-off to narrow down the participants.
Smallwood said the event ended up selling out.
'This is a celebration — I think now more than ever, it's important to find joy, and so that's what this is about,' said Devon VanHouten-Maldonado, executive director of SkyART. 'This is not a fundraiser, this is not a gala. We're here to enjoy each other's company, to revel in the most important resource, which is not money — it's love and community.'
VanHouten-Maldonado said the revenue from the event will go toward SkyART's various programs.
Though not a fundraiser, the event was ticketed at $100 per person and pegged more so as a 'reservation to a fancy dinner,' said Sophie Tiahnybik, SkyART's development coordinator.
'I think most people want to feel good about being part of a community and will support it (financially) if they feel connected to the mission and the cause,' Tiahnybik said.
The first floor of SkyART's West Side location, which started welcoming student artists in early April, includes a full kitchen space equipped with a massive counter to prep, plate and serve — a massive upgrade to the hot plate and toaster used for meals when the organization first operated out of a small rented space.
The new 6,000-square-foot studio space will allow SkyART's students to be even more culinarily creative as they regularly enjoy making and then eating family-style meals together during various programs, VanHouten-Maldonado said.
'We know that kids can't be creative if they're hungry,' he said.