Calling all alumni with a love for baking (or a love for eating what comes out of the oven)! EDWINS is excited to invite you to the next installment of our Elevate Masterclass series: Biscuits and Rolls.

Join us on Tuesday, August 19th at 6:00 PM at the EDWINS Bakery, where our own Pastry Chef Lexi will walk you through the techniques behind perfect, flaky biscuits and soft, golden rolls. Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills in the kitchen or just want a fun night of hands-on learning alongside fellow alumni, this class is for you.

Come ready to roll up your sleeves, get a little flour on your hands, and leave with new skills; and maybe a warm biscuit or two.

Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot soon. We can't wait to see you there!

Any issues email alumni@edwinsrestaurant.org

A Monthly Supper Club for EDWINS Staff & Alumni

What It Is

EDWINS: After Service is a monthly dinner club designed to bring EDWINS staff and alumni together around a shared table. Once a month, on a Monday evening, the group gathers at one of Cleveland’s great ethnic restaurants to eat family-style, talk honestly about food and the industry, and spend time in community - after the work is done.

This is not a class.

This is not a networking event.

This is hospitality, experienced together.

The experience

Each dinner centers on a single restaurant and cuisine. One EDWINS team member serves as the food lead, ordering dishes to be shared across the table and briefly setting the context. What we’re eating, why it matters, and what to notice.

The conversation is organic but intentional, touching on:

Food, culture, and tradition

Life in the restaurant industry today

Career paths, lessons learned, and real talk

What we take from other kitchens into our own work

How It Works

When: August 2nd at 1 PM

Where: Superior Pho

Who: EDWINS staff and alumni

Group Size: Limited seating to keep it intimate (10 tickets will be available)

Cost: $20 per person buy-in

TICKETS: HERE (Password is graduate)

Food: Family-style, ordered by the food lead (Heather will be the next food lead!)

Alcohol: Not included, unless integral to the cuisine and experience (at staff discretion)

Why It Exists

Restaurants are classrooms.

Tables are where learning sticks.

EDWINS: After Service is about expanding perspective, building relationships, and honoring the cultures that shape our industry. While reminding us why we chose this work in the first place.

No uniforms.

No rush.

Just good food, good conversation, and time together.

EDWINS: After Service

Where the real conversations begin. 

EDWINS JOB FAIR

EDWINS will be hosting a culinary and hospitality job fair this coming September.

You can participate in this event in two ways:

1. If you are a business owner yourself, and looking to hire, please sign up and come to the event. Hopefully we can connect you with applicants.

2. If you are looking for a job, or a career move, you can come and talk to potential employers. We will also be hosting interview and resume work shops.

Want to participate as a business owner? email alumni@edwinsrestaurant.org.

Looking to attend RSVP here

La Bastille: A Weekend to Remember

EDWINS' biggest fundraiser of the year, La Bastille, was a resounding success! This year's celebration expanded into a full three-day culinary series running from July 16 to July 18, bringing together renowned chefs, dedicated supporters, and the EDWINS community for an unforgettable experience.

The series kicked off on July 16 with a chef-driven dinner at Grafton Correctional Institution; the very place where EDWINS' culinary training program first began. The celebration continued on July 17 with a farm-to-table dinner at The Chef's Garden in Huron, before culminating on July 18 with the signature La Bastille event at EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute in Cleveland Heights. The grand finale featured a strolling dinner, cocktails, live music, a cigar bar, silent auction, and after-party.

This year's series brought together an incredible lineup of nationally recognized chefs whose combined careers include more than 15 James Beard Awards, including Andrew Zimmern, Michel Nischan, JJ Johnson, David Waltuck, Doug Katz, Jamie Simpson, Justin Pioche, and Mona Sang, alongside EDWINS founder Chef Brandon Chrostowski.

Guests enjoyed spectacular food, entertainment, and camaraderie throughout the weekend, all in support of a great cause. Proceeds from La Bastille directly support EDWINS' mission of providing culinary training, housing, employment assistance, and support services for formerly incarcerated adults working toward a fresh start.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, and donated to make this year's La Bastille a celebration to remember. Your support continues to change lives; see you next year!

A Night (and Weekend) at the Theater: EDWINS Alumni Enjoy Mean Girls the Musical.

What a fantastic weekend it was! Thanks to the generosity of the Beck Center for the Arts, EDWINS alumni and their families had the chance to enjoy Mean Girls the Musical, courtesy of 44 donated tickets over the weekend of July 24th through this weekend.

This was a true family affair, with alumni bringing their children along for a night filled with laughter, catchy songs, and a whole lot of fun. The show was a hit with everyone in attendance, and it was wonderful to see so many families enjoying a night out together.

A huge thank you to the Beck Center for the Arts for making this memorable weekend possible. Here's to more opportunities to come together, celebrate the arts, and enjoy time with our EDWINS family!

 

Are You Looking to Connect with Your Children/Grandchildren Through the Music?

The Beck Center for the Arts is partnering with EDWINS to offer a free to you music enrichment program. The program consists of musical experiences, including singing, listening, instrument play and movement in every session. Children will also have the opportunity to learn about different band and orchestra instruments throughout the year, see, hear, and touch the instruments.  Reach out and let us know if you plan on attending, we're here to help you take that next step.

 

Upcoming Programs

EDWINS JOB FAIR

EDWINS Hospitality & Food Service Job Fair

EDWINS is bringing opportunity straight to our door! We're excited to announce an upcoming Job Fair connecting our alumni with businesses in the hospitality and food service industry.

When: September 26th 9am - 12pm Where: EDWINS

Employers from restaurants, hotels, and food service companies across the area will be on-site to share current openings and meet alumni ready for their next opportunity. In addition to networking with hiring businesses, we'll also be offering onsite interview prep, so you can walk in ready to make a great first impression.

Whether you're looking for your next role, a change of pace, or just want to see what's out there, this is a great chance to connect directly with employers who value what EDWINS training brings to the table.

More details, including the exact date and time, will be shared soon. Stay tuned — we hope to see you there!

 

Ongoing Programs

Life Skills Seminars

Stay tuned for life skill seminars ranging from mental health and financial health to small business planning and development.

These will be offered in person and via Zoom!

Swim Class

If you don't know how to swim, we have people that want to help you learn. Please email alumni@edwinsrestaurant.org and let us know if you want to learn how to swim.

EDWINS Alum Keith Rowan is excited to offer a new opportunity to help anyone get their new green business off the ground.  Called Sowing the Sees of Tomorrow, this nonprofit urban farm and green business incubator empowers veterans and justice-impacted citizens to grown their own futures.

If you would like to learn more go to stsot.netlify.app and check it out.

Songyard Farms LLC is looking for folks who are curious about agriculture as a potential job opportunity, we welcome volunteers for this purpose!  As a volunteers choose if they prefer to explore animal husbandry or gardening with herbs, veggies and or flowers.

If interested check out their website here.

Authentic Baklava

 

Ingredients

4 cups sugar (for syrup)

0.5 cups honey (for syrup)

3 cups water (for syrup)

1 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cinnamon sticks

 

4 cups walnuts, chopped

0.5 cups sugar (for nut mixture)

1 tablespoons ground cinnamon (for nut mixture)

 

1 pounds unsalted butter, melted

1 pounds filo dough sheets

 

Steps

 

1. Make the syrup: Combine 4 cups sugar (for syrup), 0.5 cups honey (for syrup), 3 cups water (for syrup), 1 tablespoons lemon juice, and 2 cinnamon sticks in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

 

2. Boil syrup: Gently boil the syrup uncovered, then let it cool completely.

 

3. Make nut mixture: Mix together 4 cups walnuts, chopped, 0.5 cups sugar (for nut mixture), and 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon (for nut mixture). Set aside.

 

4. Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 300-325 degrees F.

 

5. Butter the pan: Brush a 9x13 pan with melted butter (1 pounds unsalted butter, melted).

 

6. Layer bottom filo: Line the bottom of the pan with 6 sheets of filo (1 pounds filo dough sheets), brushing each sheet with butter.

 

7. Add first nut layer: Spread 1/3 of the nut mixture over the filo.

 

8. Second filo layer: Add 3 more sheets of filo, brushing each sheet with butter.

 

9. Add second nut layer: Spread another 1/3 of the nut mixture over the filo.

 

10. Third filo layer: Add 3 more sheets of filo, brushing each sheet with butter.

 

11. Add final nut layer: Pour the remainder of the nut mixture over the filo.

 

12. Top filo layer: Top with 8 sheets of filo, brushing each sheet with butter. If any sheets overlap the sides of the pan, tuck them into the sides of the baklava.

 

13. Chill before cutting: Put the pan of baklava in the refrigerator to make it easier to cut.

 

14. Cut the baklava: Cut the baklava with a very sharp knife lengthwise into about 7 strips. Then cut diagonally across the pan, starting at the lower left-hand corner. Cut carefully all the way through to the bottom of the pan.

 

15. Bake: Bake uncovered until golden brown.

 

16. Cool briefly: Allow the baklava to cool for 10 minutes 10:00.

 

17. Add syrup: Pour the cooled syrup evenly over the top of the baklava.

 

18. Soak and drain: Allow the baklava to cool for at least 120 minutes 120:00 to soak up the syrup. Then tilt the pan so excess syrup drains into a corner (remove a couple corner pieces beforehand), periodically removing syrup from the corner.

 

19. Serve: Put pieces of baklava into foil baking cups and enjoy!

 

Steve Weiss, ACC

Catalis Leadership / Resurgence Leadership

There's a thing the best servers do that nobody trains and everybody feels. You sit down, and within thirty seconds you have the strange sense that yours is the only table in the restaurant. It isn't - that server has nine other tables. But while they're standing at yours, they are entirely with you. They caught the birthday card on the table. They noticed your father struggles to hear and angled toward him when they spoke. Nothing felt rushed, and nothing felt performed. You left feeling like you mattered.

 

It's tempting to file that away as a customer service skill. It isn't. It's a human skill, and the more demanding version of it — the one with far higher stakes — isn't how you receive a stranger who's paying you. It's how you receive the people you work beside every day. The colleague who stops at your desk. The new hire hovering nearby, working up the nerve to ask something. The teammate who says "quick question" when it clearly isn't quick.

This skill belongs to everyone. You don't need to be a manager to practice it, and being a manager doesn't mean you do.

Here's what it is. A short, honest look at five things that decide whether someone runs a kitchen well or just survives it: decision-making, communication and active listening, team dynamics, emotional intelligence, and resilience. You answer for yourself. No manager grading you, no trick questions. Just a clear read on where you're strong and where there's room to grow.

We are exploring the idea of having Alumni made products at the Edwins Butcher Shop.

If you have a product you'd like to sell...herbal blends, sauces, packaged items, etc. we would love to share them with the world. We will also have a spot to host your business cards for highlighting your small businesses.

Email Greg at alumni@edwinsrestaurant.org with your products and to get information on next steps.

If you put EDWINS in your profile under the education section you will automatically show up as an alumni on the EDWINS LinkedIn page.