Cafe 1600

The Program of Practice

Unemployment, Justice involved individuals, and the need for workforce training are issues facing many counties like Kern County. Within the first floor of the AJCC was a vacant kitchen. Bakersfield Adult School has had a strong partnership with the county for over 20 years. Therefore, when the county CAO called BAS in 2015 and asked if we would partner to create a program within this space, we seized the opportunity to create Cafe 1600!

The Response

Bakersfield Adult School partnered with the county of kern to utilize the kitchen space within the AJCC, to address the needs of the community. In 2016 BAS hired two teachers, a highly skilled Chef and equally talented front of the house instructor. Also employed, is an Instructional Technician. This former student is a tremendous asset and was hired by BAS upon completion of the culinary program.
The response to the newly created program was overwhelming! We continue to partner with a wide variety of public and private agencies to assist in getting clients trained and ready for employment. Some of those partners include but are not limited to: Department of Corrections, and Department of Probation, Employment Development Department, Employers Training Resource, this is in addition to serving our own Bakersfield Adult School students. Students can earn elective credit towards their high school diploma upon completion of the program.
The students not only learn job skills in a fast-paced restaurant, but they also gain confidence, leadership skills and communication skills.
For students who have been long-term unemployed or previously incarcerated, gaining confidence is as important as learning their culinary skills. This confidence translates far beyond what the students learn in the classroom.

The Unique Features of the Program

Cafe 1600 is a special place. First and foremost, it’s an innovative, fast-paced bistro style working restaurant. The one semester course includes Beginning Culinary and Advanced Culinary curriculum, each consisting of a quarter term. The semester long course is compressed and accelerated to get students to their goals as quickly as possible.
The strategic location allows for authentic cross pollination of employees from partnering agencies, including county of kern judges. This synergy brings awareness of the individual students and their stories. It is not uncommon to have a student recognize a judge that sentenced them. It's serendipitous for the student to be able to share with the judge, that they have made a choice and changed their life.
Additionally, the ETR staff frequenting the cafe sees, firsthand, their clients growing and thriving, which renews their sense of purpose.
Furthermore, the Kern High School District Maintenance and Operations as well as the Superintendent are regular patrons and advocates of the restaurant.
The support of the county and Kern High School District has been phenomenal. When the kitchen needed a thorough upgrade, the county of Kern took the lead and made sure we had commercial grade ovens, grills, and refrigeration units. In addition to their efforts our very own Kern High School District Maintenance and Operations made tremendous custom upgrades to allow our team of instructors to design an area that allowed for cooking and instruction.
The culinary program uses local growers for a sustainable approach of farm to table dining. In addition to an extensive CANVAS library of online lessons to reinforce skill building, instructors also integrate "Atomic Habits" into the instruction.
ETR has funded students for paid work experience in previous years. Bakersfield Adult School is unique in that we have both Title I and Title II funding. Unfortunately, WIOA Title I funds have been greatly reduced in the past year.
BAS still aims to bring a top student back the next semester as an Extern. This brings continuity to the program and allows the student to learn additional managerial skills. We strive to fund the extern through Title I; however it is increasingly challenging to do so.

Here is a link to the video:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e3at32r2dq0ivkmv77mio/BAS_CAFE_1600.mp4?rlkey=k8buot4mldbvrdbbs85sk0w91&e=1&st=znno2x7x&dl=0

The Outcome

The last three years data (below) indicate the numbers of students that began the course and ended the course.
Year Beg. Culinary Adv Culinary

23/24 18/17 12/12
22/23 25/25 17/17
21/22 16/16 13/12

Student Standouts: 2022-2025 (names removed)
*Spring 2022 Diploma/graduation speaker
*Fall 2022 BAS extern followed by Bakersfield College (Culinary Program)
*Spring 2023 Diploma/Graduation speaker
*Spring 2023 BAS extern + Los Molcajetes Restaurant
*Spring 2023 BAS Extern +Private Catering and Bakersfield College Food Services
*Fall 2023 Bakersfield City School District Food Services
*Fall 2023 BAS extern +Bakersfield Country Club Cook
*Fall 2023 Bakersfield College Culinary Arts
*Spring 2024 US Army
*Spring 2025 Aramark Food Services Employee +Cal State University Bakersfield