GROW. EAT. SHARE. LEARN.
Since 2012, Schoolhouse kitchen + studio has been inspiring people to grow, eat and share and learn about good food.
We love cooking with kids and their families! There is so much to learn in each recipe.
Culture, economics, food systems, math, science and art! We believe that a kitchen classroom is a fun and relaxing environment to explore.
What People Are Saying
“Schoolhouse is moving the Good Movement forward with unique experiences that are getting people excited about local food. This programming is essential to building food literacy and changing the way we think about food in Chicagoland.”
— Jim Slama-Founder, FamilyFarmed and Good Food Festival
“I can't say enough good things about what you have built. Schoolhouse drips with love + a side of fun + a pinch of laughter!”
— Melissa,
“My son absolutely loved this class. he said the teachers were positive, knowledgeable and fun, and he learned new techniques.”
Our story
Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio
Cheryl Knecht is the Founder and Owner of Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio. It’s her dream job.
To experience more meaningful connections to her local farmers and neighbors, she opened (along with hundreds of others) a cooperative grocery store in the Village of Oak Park, IL in July 2015 called Sugar Beet Food Co-op. The Co-op celebrates community and good food by providing a full-service marketplace for local vendors and producers and greater access to local, organic food. Her passion for education and skill-sharing motivated her to establish an educational organization which became Sugar Beet Schoolhouse. In 2016 Cheryl found a home for the Schoolhouse (we just call it Schoolhouse now) in a sweet little building in River Forest that includes a commercial kitchen for community chefs that she also manages (River Forest Kitchen) and a greenhouse. Cheryl received the Golden Beet Award from the Illinois Stewardship Alliance for Community Food Development in 2015 and has three times been named to New City Chicago’s “Big Heat” list of Chicago’s “movers and shakers” in the Chicago food scene.
Cheryl opened the second Schoolhouse in Portage Park, Chicago in February 2023 and the third Schoolhouse in Wicker Park, Chicago in June 2023 with the support, vision and hard work of an incredible team of educators who love good food.
