GRAFTON, Ohio (AP) — A state prison in northeastern Ohio said it has served a five-course meal to the general public for the first time in the state’s history, with meals prepared by inmates from fruits and vegetables grown in the prison garden.
About 60 people dined at Grafton Correctional Institution, where inmates housed in the prison's Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute hosted the event in two prison gardens: “Edwins Garden” and “Hope City Garden.”
Edwins, an organisation dedicated to education in prisons, organised the dinner as part of its culinary course, which is offered in 652 jails and prisons across the country. The six-month course provides training to inmates, teaching them cooking techniques, safety and hygiene, knife skills and other certifications needed to work in a fine dining restaurant.
“Metaphorically what’s happening is we’re redefining what’s possible in prison,” chef Brandon Chrostowski said.
Chrostowski — a James Beard Award semifinalist and Outstanding Restaurant finalist — partnered with the staff at Grafton Correctional Institution in 2012, and designed a class to teach inmates about cooking and hospitality.
Chrostowski said the program was born out of the belief that “every human being, no matter what his or her past, has a right to a fair and equal future.”
Bouquets of magenta roses, lilies and other flowers adorned a table covered with a white linen cloth. Fresh bread and olive oil were served to each diner. The table was placed between two gardens.
The men in prison grow a variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs, from parsley to maize and beetroot.
Greg Sigelmeier, 40, who is incarcerated at GCI, says he looks forward to participating in the program each week. He says the class has helped him come out of his shell.
He first decided to work in the kitchen for the dinner party because he didn't want the guests to see how nervous he was.
After some thought and talking to people close to him, he thought it would be a good idea to challenge himself by doing something that made him feel uncomfortable. Sigelmeier said he is considering working in the industry when he is released in a year.
“This could be the rest of my life. And they're doing this for everybody. They're not looking at me as a number. They're looking at me as a person,” Sigelmeier said.
The five-course meal began with a beet salad with goat cheese and greens, followed by kale “purses” served with farmer's cheese. Guests ate roasted salmon with béarnaise sauce and braised garden greens. This was followed by roasted lamb with tomato Provencal. Dessert included corn cake with blueberry compote and Chantilly cream.
Each course was accompanied by a mocktail, one of them named “Botanique” – soda with thyme-infused honey syrup and lemon.
The program also requires participants to learn each other's work styles and behaviors, and helps build relationships around preparing and sharing food.
“It's the best thing, to be able to come together as a community and finally have a meal,” said Efren Paniagua-Villa, 28. “You should see the faces on these people's faces when they're just eating simple chicken noodle soup that we all made together. It's incredible.”
Paniagua-Villa said before going to prison, she spent a lot of time at home cooking with her mother and sister. She said cooking with her classmates helped her fill the void left by her time in prison 2 1/2 years ago.
According to the organization, inmates in GCI’s Edwins culinary program are serving sentences ranging from short-term to life imprisonment and range in age from 20 to 70.
Some of the men in Edwins program will graduate and have the option to apply to work at one of many restaurants in the Cleveland area once they are released.
“A lot of our people that live here are going home, so they're going home to be our neighbors. We want our neighbors to be prepared to be law-abiding citizens, and that's the purpose of this program. It's not just about teaching people how to cook or prepare food,” GCI Warden Jerry Spatny said. “This gives them re-entry level skills so that when they go home, they can be successful in that environment.”