Jamie's Kitchen
Jamie's Kitchen is a five-part British documentary television series that aired on Channel 4 from 5 November to 10 December 2002. It follows chef Jamie Oliver as he attempts to train a group of 15 unemployed youths, who will—if they complete the course—be offered jobs at Oliver's new restaurant Fifteen. The series was executive produced by Peter Moore for Talkback Productions, and has since spawned several others along similar lines.
Original show
Of the original 15 cooks, five went on to secure cooking careers. Elisa Roche, Ralph Johnson, Tim Siadatan, Ben Arthur and Warren Fleet all ended up working in some of London's best restaurants. Johnny Broadfoot, one of the younger original fifteen cooks, returned to Sydney, Australia as head chef of his co-owned restaurant/bar El Beau Room in Manly, which opened in July 2013, and closed in 2016.An article about bullying in the catering industry, written by Elisa Roche for The Guardian, now forms part of the national curriculum.
One, Kevin Boyle, died at the age of 26.
Fifteen Foundation
Fifteen is the name of the restaurants and the supporting charitable foundation. The foundation's mission is to inspire disadvantaged youth, including those with drug or alcohol problems, the unemployed and the homeless, to believe in themselves and the possibility of becoming chefs.The foundation aims to turn Fifteen into a global social enterprise brand. December 2004 saw the opening of a second restaurant in Amsterdam, with others following in Cornwall and Fifteen Melbourne, Australia.
Benny Se Teo, a Singaporean ex-convict, heard of the foundation while on an internship with Jamie Oliver and was inspired to start Eighteen Chefs in Singapore along similar lines.