After launching his own company, this 12-yr-old chef lands deal to teach kids to cook virtually

Most families have had to switch to more home-cooked meals than eating out because of the coronavirus pandemic. Often, parents do the cooking while their children wait to have their meal but a 12-year-old chef is teaching children to take charge in the kitchen. A partnership with SideChef will see Julian Frederick launch an on-demand virtual cooking class for kids.

Julian has been cooking since age three when he and his mother baked his birthday cake. He and his mom, Toria, have since launched their company, Step Stool Chef.

“I got on the step stool – hence the name, Step Stool Chef. The cake was a big success and I was super proud of myself. I’ve had a love of cooking ever since,” Julian recalled.

He wants kids to share in the feeling of being able to start and finish a whole meal on their own. The preteen is happy to help kids like him build their leadership skills and confidence in a creative way.

“I want to help kids build their cooking skills and confidence while creating great family time memories. The Step Stool Chef teaches kids to be leaders in the kitchen, providing tools and solutions for them to learn to cook in a safe space with little to no help from parents. At the Step Stool Chef, the kids are the chefs, parents are the assistants,” Julian said. 

The renowned kid chef and his Step Stool Chef train children to be independent through culinary arts taught by someone their age, hence they adopted the “kids teaching kids approach.” He is the boss in the kitchen and Toria is his assistant.

According to Blackbusiness, “The Step Stool Chef Cooking School For Kids by Side Chef Premium will provide an immersive cooking experience broken down into two modules – “Intro to Kid Cooking” and “Next Level Cooking.” 

The partnership with SideChef is an opportunity of a lifetime and a great way to join the top league chefs already on the platform that has over “18,000 interactive smart recipes…featuring hands-free voice commands, step-by-step photos, how-to videos, and built-in timers.”

CEO and Founder of SideChef Kevin Yu spoke about the work ahead of the two likeminded entities, “In these uncertain times, what is certain is that home cooking has become an essential part of everyday life, even for kids, and we are dedicated to persistently innovate with renowned partners like Step Stool Chef to help kids start their cooking journey with a strong foundation.”

Parents will be able to order supplies and have access to personalized meal planning, smart kitchen compatibility meals and delivery through Walmart and AmazonFresh when they subscribe to Julian’s virtual class for $4.99 monthly or $49.99 annually.

Subscribers do not only get to sharpen their cooking skills but they also get an immersive experience mixed with bits of math, science and reading.

Toria believes in the vision her son has, adding that, “This unique partnership allows us to merge kid cooking, education, and technology. As distant learning and homeschooling become a reality for many kids across America, these on-demand cooking classes are a great complement to the new reality of present-day at-home education.”

Julian hopes to run his own restaurant someday. According to his website, he was “a state finalist for the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge in partnership with the White House and Let’s Move Campaign as well as served on the Kids Advisory Board for ChopChop Magazine, an award-winning kid cooking magazine and as the youngest culinary influencer on popular blog Super Healthy Kids and SideChef digital cooking app.”