Recipe For Change.

RFC Mission

Recipe for Change is a 501(c)(3) non-profit providing

Culinary Instruction

Fine Arts Enrichment

Mentorship

to pre-trial Individuals at Cook County Jail. We believe that when you restore dignity and teach real skills, people change their lives.

We believe that employment after release is the single most important factor in reducing recidivism. Our goal is to make sure every student who walks out of our program walks into opportunity.

Hire Our Graduates Become a Mentor

Built on belief that everyone
deserves a second chance.

Chef Bruno's Story

In the early hours of a morning in 2014, Chef Bruno Abate — a Milan-born restaurateur running a bustling Chicago pizzeria — felt a call he couldn't ignore. Inspired by a deep conviction that food could do more than nourish, he walked into Cook County Jail with a simple idea: teach people to cook, and you teach them to believe in themselves again.

What started as live cooking demonstrations in a small basement kitchen has grown into a five-days-a-week workforce development program serving 20 to 40 students at a time. Chef Bruno and his team have personally trained over 4,000 detainees in culinary skills, food safety, nutrition, and the discipline of professional cooking. He added art and music programs to reach students who express themselves through creativity. And in 2024, he met Pope Francis at the Vatican to share the story of what's happening inside Cook County Jail.

Chef Bruno's philosophy is simple: punishment doesn't change people. Dignity does. Skill does. Community does. When you treat someone like they matter, they start to act like they matter.

Who We Serve

We work with men and women, ages 18 and up, from across the Chicagoland area. Our students are pre-trial detainees — meaning they have not been convicted of a crime. They are awaiting their case resolutions inside Cook County Jail. For some, it's their first time in the justice system. For others, it's a cycle they're determined to break.