Toni Kraft, one of the 2023 San Diego Food + Wine Festival scholarship recipients, is a distinguished leader in the hospitality industry. Toni Kraft previously owned Café Merlot, an award-winning restaurant in San Diego. Her impressive resume includes roles such as Senior Program Manager at Community Health Improvement Partners and National VP of Sales for Culinary, Marketing, and Education at LifeStyles INFOCUS, where she built a thriving foodservice and wellness company.
Photo: Toni Kraft
With these notable accolades, Toni Kraft has now shifted her focus to a meaningful and impactful project. She currently works with special needs young adults within the Poway Unified School District as an CTE instructor with an emphasis on agribusiness at the Kitchen tABLE Academy. This innovative program allows her to share her culinary skills with young adults and create opportunities for them to secure jobs in the culinary industry. The San Diego Food + Wine Festival scholarship has enabled Kraft to further support this program and enhance opportunities for these young adults.
Kraft’s work goes beyond teaching; she inspires her students to dream big and not let their personal challenges deter them from achieving their goals. She provides real-life training in the culinary arts to students aged 18 to 22, who need additional educational and life-skills training to become as self-sufficient as possible. All the students have intellectual or developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, or other special needs.
The Transition Program teaches students essential vocational and life skills, such as budgeting finances, navigating the community through public transportation, and living independently.
Toni Kraft initially applied for the scholarship on behalf of her students, seeking funds to advance their education. Her dedication and hard work impressed the scholarship committee so much that the funds were allocated to Kraft, who then donated them to her organization to benefit all her students.
Recently, we joined Kraft and her students on a field trip to Sage Hill Ranch Gardens, a no-till ecological market garden in Escondido, California. This visit allowed the students to see where many local chefs source their organic produce for farm-to-table restaurants. The day was filled with learning and inspiration, as captured in the photos below.
Connect with Toni Kraft on LinkedIn
Photos: Toni Kraft on a field trip with her students from the Kitchen tABLE Academy, at the no-till Sage Hill Ranch Gardens in Escondido, CA. They toured the farm and learned about how they farm the organic vegetables, herbs, flowers and perennial crops.
