particularly one as large and with as storied a past as Illinois’ Cook County Jail.
But a new beginning is exactly what’s being served up these days in Division 11. Bruno Abate, chef and owner of Tocco, a popular Italian restaurant in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, has been teaching a cooking class to inmates.
The class, which began last spring, isn’t just about cooking up a perfectly crispy pizza or a zesty marinara. Rather, Abate says the program aims to educate its participants in professionalism and responsibility, and to give them hope for their life beyond the cell — hope that they can secure employment, many of them through Abate’s restaurant, and avoid returning to jail.
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“Through them, I make my life better. Not many people understand it, but when you do something good for other people, you do something good for yourself,” Abate said. “Every day I learn something, every day they give me the power and the energy to go on in life. Every day is a learning lesson.”
Chef Bruno Abate sits down with participants in his class.
Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr. Local hero hopes to help inmates get jobs, one ravioli at a time.
