Melrose Culinary School Plans To Expand Its Reach With Grant

MELROSE, MA — Julie Unger’s entrepreneurial idea was born where many are — during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Florida native has made an impact in her new home of Melrose throughout the past five years with her culinary school.

The Kitchen on 1 Hurd St. is a hands-on, interactive culinary school for children, teenagers, and adults. Unger’s inspiration came from eight years of experience running the Melrose Farmer’s Market working with local chefs on things like fundraisers and cooking events as well as an urge to reconnect people after the isolation the pandemic brought on.

“We have a lot of teens and kids that come through the program and they’re just exposed to a variety of foods that they would never eat at home,” Unger said. “We’re bringing strangers together and they’re connecting in ways that they probably wouldn’t have before.”

Unger has recently expanded her business by taking her students’ skills on the road through pop-up events, collaboration with other companies, and fundraisers. What started as a low-stakes Google search turned into a $50,000 grant from Progressive Insurance’s Driving Small Businesses Forward Program. Unger was in disbelief when she first discovered she was awarded the grant.
“I think I read the email 15 times,’ Unger said.

The grant will fund a new vehicle to facilitate the mobile operations of The Kitchen. Unger envisions potentially buying a truck so she can tow everything she needs for a pop-up event. The acquisition of the vehicle will make it easier for the company to do in-home private events as well as working with The Food Drive in Melrose to donate 100 to 200 meals a month through the drive’s Community Freezer.