But 'He's Been Making Omelets Since He Was 3 . . .'
And Other Tales From Teen Cooking Camps

By Candy Sagon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 12, 2006

It's not enough to go to cooking camp just to have fun. Heaven forbid.

No, camp these days needs to be one more opportunity to polish up that college résumé with further proof of a kid's breathtaking talent.

Or at least that seems to be one of the motives behind the growing demand for teen cooking camps that offer intense, sophisticated lessons -- even travel to Europe.

At C'est Si Bon Cooking School in Chapel Hill, N.C., some parents become irate when their children -- all far above-average, of course -- aren't immediately placed in the advanced teen cooking camp.

"The parents have become much more competitive. They call and ask if there's a test their child could take [to get into the advanced course]. Or they fib and tell me, 'He's been making omelets since he was 3,' " says Dorette Snover, co-owner of the nine-year-old school that offers teen cooking camps in Chapel Hill, as well as in Tuscany and Provence.

Culinary camp sessions at Pali Overnight Adventures Camp near Lake Arrowhead in Southern California are taught by a chef and fill up quickly, says director Barry Vigon. "Parents not only want to flesh out their kids' résumés, they want to make them more well-rounded. College is so competitive, it can't hurt."

Whether it's to score points with college administrators, or just because parents are desperate to keep their kids occupied during the summer, many cooking schools say demand has jumped for pre-teen and teen classes.

C'est Si Bon began with six students in 1997 in Snover's home kitchen. This year, 150 students will learn to cook over the summer in the 1,800-square-foot school Snover and her husband recently built next to their house.

At L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, summer camp coordinator Clarice Dionot says the weeklong kids' cooking camp sessions (for ages 9-12 and 13-17) have been filled for months.

"We began advertising in March, and the Teen Globe Trotters and Teen Baking classes [ages 13-17] sold out almost immediately," she says. "The demand for kids' classes just keeps growing. The only reason we don't do more is lack of space."

Kids' cooking classes at the elegant Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., are so popular that some parents have tried lying about their children's ages to get them enrolled. "The classes almost always have a waiting list," says chef-instructor Sue Moats.

And what are kids learning to make at camp? Everything from toffee chocolate chip bars to Tuscan ravioli with a sage ricotta filling to crab cakes with ginger cream and mango salsa. Here's a sampling from around the country (prices do not include airfare):

The International Kitchen , Chicago, 800-945-8606, http://www.theinternationalkitchen.com/ . Owner: Karen Herbst.

Courses Cooking vacations in Italy, France and Spain, from weeklong to one-day class. Cost: $160 for a single class to $3,200 for a weeklong program.

Who's Signing Up Twelve years ago, when Herbst started her company, only adults were interested. "But in the last couple of years, parents want their children, even as young as 8 or 9, to take the classes, too. We had one 11-year-old girl in our Paris class who outshone all the adults with her skills."

What Parents Are Demanding English-speaking nannies to baby-sit for young children while parents (and older kids) learn to cook.

What Teens Are Making Ravioli with sage stuffing, southern Tuscan pici pasta with tomato sauce, vegetable and salmon terrine.

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C'est Si Bon Cooking School , Chapel Hill, N.C., 919-942-6550, http://www.cestsibon.net/ . Owners: Dorette and Richard Snover.

Courses Weeklong teen cooking camps in Chapel Hill, Tuscany and Provence. Cost: In Chapel Hill, $325 for basic teen camp, $525 for advanced; for a week in Provence or Tuscany, $1, 875.

Who's Signing Up Food-savvy teens. "Some are interested in a culinary career, some don't know a thing about cooking, but know a lot about dining out and Food Network, some cook very well. We had one boy from Madison [Wis.] who sold his baguettes at the farmers market."

What Parents Are Demanding "They really want their children to succeed. They get irate if their kids don't get into the advanced camp."

What Teens Are Making Focaccia with rosemary and dry chevre, Neapolitan rice croquettes, French camomile quiche. Even the teens in the basic camp make dishes such as Charleston she-crab soup and Provencal stuffed zucchini flowers.

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L'Academie de Cuisine , Bethesda, 301-986-9490, http://www.lacademie.com/ . Owners: Francois and Patrice Dionot.

Courses: Weeklong preteen and teen cooking camps run from mid-June to mid-August for ages 9-12 and 13-17. All are currently filled, but last-minute openings do occur.

Who's Signing Up Preteens squeamish about raw chicken to older teens able to tackle advanced dishes.

What Parents Are Demanding "Kids tell us that their parents are making them come and they don't want to be here. That's what they say on Monday. By Friday, they don't want camp to end."

What Teens Are Making Mozzarella and chicken roulade with sun-dried tomato veloute, apple charlotte, moussaka, yakitori, tiramisu.

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Pali Overnight Adventures Camp , Running Springs, Calif., 888-678-6637, http://www.paliadventures.com/ . Director: Barry Vigon.

Courses One-week culinary camp for ages 10-16, $1,485; two-week session, $2,895. Twelve kids per session, taught by former hotel and restaurant chef.

Who's Signing Up Kids with a definite interest in cooking, mostly evenly split between boys and girls.

What Parents Are Demanding "They want to flesh out their kids' résumés. The trend in California is toward specialty camps" that teach a particular skill.

What Teens Are Making Crab cakes with ginger cream and mango salsa, pork tenders with chayote pickles, caramelized pecan upside-down apple pie.

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The Greenbrier resort , White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., 800-228-5049, http://www.greenbrier.com/ .

Courses Two-hour cooking classes for ages 6-12, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, July 18-Aug. 30, $95 per child per class.

Who's Signing Up Kids of guests at the resort.

What Parents Are Demanding The classes are small and very popular, so there's always a waiting list. Parents have been known to lie about their child's age to try to get the child into a class.

What Kids Are Making Orange cake with cream cheese icing, beef and cheese burrito with guacamole, toffee chocolate chip bars.