Community Kitchen Pittsburgh

As a Pittsburgh native, Jessica relocated to Michigan during high school where she began her restaurant experience. Her greatest joy was found in her family’s delight and support of her early cooking competency preparing her family meals. She found a sense of accomplishment and pride that she carries with her today.

After graduating from Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, Jessica was accepted to continue her culinary training at The Boca Raton Resort & Club. Most influential to her cooking style was working with Chef Gregory Waters at 27 Ocean Blue, a 4-star Mobil Travel Restaurant Review and 5-Diamond AAA Restaurant Guide. His use of international cooking styles and passion for upscale local ingredients allowed Jessica firsthand experience that transformed her professional culinary artistry.

Upon her return to Pittsburgh, Jessica became a member of The Carlton Restaurant culinary staff. Her newly gained incisive knowledge allowed her to expediently climb to the top of the ranks as Sous Chef. Assisting Chef Mark Swomley with menu creation and wine pairing dinners proved an invaluable experience that she was able to utilize as Executive Chef of Bistro 19.

Jessica strives to keep Bistro 19 as one of the top destinations in Pittsburgh’s restaurant market. She frequently travels to cities such as Chicago, New York and Philadelphia to inspire her menus. Guests do not encounter a pretentious menu at Bistro 19. They are instead treated to a modern and eclectic selection that delights all. Jessica cooks at events all over the city and as far as Cincinnati to show off her talent, and has also been featured in magazines like Whirl and Pittsburgh Magazine. At cooking classes around the city, she enjoys giving back to the community and teaching students how to prepare some delightful dishes for their own families.

Executive Chef Bruce has been with CKP for about a year and half. While his culinary career has taken him on many journeys, his roots are right here in Pittsburgh.

Chef Bruce is excited to be back in his hometown, giving back and imparting all of the knowledge he’s gained throughout his years away.One thing he likes to tell the students is to “put their love on a plate”, which is what we do every single day here at CKP

Chef Jozie has been at CKP for 2 years, and has been in the industry for 36 years. One thing she finds herself telling students would be to “pay attention to everything and don’t be afraid try new things. There is always something to learn.”

At home, Chef’s favorite thing to make at home would be ramen broth from scratch. If she could dine anywhere in the world and money was no object, Chef Jozie would go almost anywhere in Italy

Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski are co-chefs and co-owners of APTEKA. The couple opened their hyper-DIY spot in 2016 as an exploration of Central and Eastern European food with an entirely scratch-made vegan menu.

In 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, the couple were semi-finalists for James Beard Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, finalists for the award in 2023, and the restaurant was recognized by The New York Times as one of their fifty favorite restaurants as well as twenty-five favorite dishes of 2022. They are life-long Pittsburghers.

Chef Adam has been with TASK for 5 years, initially as Kitchen Coordinator and as a result of his impressively extensive efforts during and following the Covid-19 pandemic; Adam earned the promotion to Director of Culinary Operations in 2023.

A “typical” day for Chef Adam Livow looks like doing a lot with a little! As the Director of Culinary Operations, Chef Adam manages a team of 4 cooks and 3 prep cooks . In FY24, he and his team prepared and served 535,103 meals and as of October FY25 they’re just under 200K meals. Procuring, planning, prepping, preparing and plating; this production is massive, but, Adam has developed the well oiled operation that is critical for TASK’s main hub, food truck, 40 community meal sites, and special events.

Additionally, Chef Adam is the instructor of Emilio’s Culinary Academy — a 10 week training program that includes kitchen skills and preparation for the ServSafe certification. Emilio’s Culinary Academy will be graduating its 11th cohort this December.

Chef Shanita is a Kansas City native and a civic-minded chef eager to transform the lives of community members on the Eastside neighborhoods through food-based solutions: nutrition education, kitchen culinary training and culinary entrepreneurship.

She fell in love with cooking as a teen and went on to receive her professional culinary training at Johnson County Community College. She created and owned a restaurant and competed on The Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.”

In 2019, Shanita founded The Prospect KC, a social enterprise designed to address systemic inequities, caused by food apartheid, including food insecurity, unemployment and housing instability by providing workforce development, including case management, skill management, financial and nutrition education, childcare and job training.

Chef Racicot is one of Pittsburgh’s most decorated chefs as a three-time James Beard semi-finalist. Racicot began his career in the famous kitchens of the Bellagio, Picasso and Le Cirque, in Las Vegas.

Racicot then made the move to Western Pennsylvania as the Chef De Cuisine for the acclaimed Lautrec restaurant at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, PA. During his time at Lautrec, the restaurant scored a coveted AAA Five Diamond.

Chef Racicot moved to Pittsburgh’s Oakmont neighborhood and opened his own concept, Notion, to critical acclaim and eventually moved it to the city’s East Liberty neighborhood. He later accepted the position of Executive Chef for the Richard Deshantz Restaurant Group where he created signature recipes and helmed bustling kitchens like Poulet Blue and tako.

Most recently, Racicot opened the cocktail and small plates concept Bridges & Bourbon. Today, you can find Chef Racicot bringing his culinary vision to life as the Executive Chef of The Commoner, located in Downtown Pittsburgh.

With over two decades of experience in pastry arts, Meegan brings deep technical expertise, a love for flavor innovation, and a true servant heart to everything she creates. Whether she’s collaborating with culinary students at Harvest Moon, leading scholarship initiatives through C-CAP, or developing bold new flavor profiles in the Villa Dolce kitchen, Meegan leads with purpose.

Meegan also teaches a quarterly Baking & Pastry course at UMOM’s Homegrown program, a Model Member of Catalyst Kitchens, empowering individuals facing barriers to employment through hands-on culinary education. As an active contributor to Catalyst Kitchens’ national mission, she supplies a baking curriculum that is accessible to over 100 social enterprises across the country.

Chef Chris is an acclaimed pastry chef and educator, and excited to be partnering with Meegan and Catalyst Kitchens for this event. Chris is a faculty member at Scottsdale Community College, an executive chef, and a semi-finalist for ACF’s National Educator of the Year. He believes in the power of kitchens, food, and teaching to do good in the world.