Beginning in the 2025–2026 school year, Chef Leonardo Palazzo and Eataly partnered with Wellness in the Schools on a recipe development and culinary training series for New York City Public Schools cafeteria cooks, emphasizing the importance of scratch cooking in the everyday lives of children. A longtime Chef Instructor at La Scuola of Eataly, Chef Leonardo combines professional culinary technique with a passion for teaching. Born and raised in Italy, he began working in hospitality at age 13 and went on to build his career across different regions of the country, developing a deep familiarity with the diverse cuisines and traditions of the Italian peninsula. His belief that scratch cooking should not be reserved for restaurants or special occasions, but should instead be part of children’s everyday experiences with food, made him a natural partner for WITS. Working alongside WITS Chefs and school cafeteria cooks, Chef Palazzo shared techniques and ideas for making fresh, nutritious food practical at scale, including vegetable-cutting techniques, large-batch risotto made from scratch, and sauces built from fresh vegetables.
Chef Palazzo quickly understood that practicality was essential in a school kitchen and adapted his recipes and methods accordingly, focusing on dishes with a low effort-to-yield ratio—food that delivers the flavor and quality of a restaurant while remaining feasible to prepare in large quantities without losing flavor. Beyond the recipes themselves, he demonstrated how to organize and approach kitchen work so that scratch cooking could be done consistently and efficiently at scale. Our partnership with Chef Palazzo will continue into this new school year as a Chef Partner, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services. As part of this collective work, Chef Palazzo will work alongside WITS Chefs and school communities to help public school students build healthy habits to learn, live, and thrive. We can’t wait for another great school year with Chef Palazzo!