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In 2006, British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and Australian chef Tobie Puttock opened the Melbourne outpost of Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant. Oliver came up with the concept for Fifteen in London in 2002.  His idea was simple: offer young people with troubled backgrounds the chance to learn how to cook and be employed as a culinary apprentice in a supportive environment.

The charitable component of the restaurant, The Fifteen Foundation, finds youth that are interested in food, but come from a history of violence, substance abuse, homelessness and other troubles that prevent them from entering the workforce in the traditional manner. They also accept donations to finance the apprenticeships, which cost about $60,000 per apprentice for the 12-month program.

Fifteen Melbourne was opened in 2006 as the fourth outpost of the restaurant with Oliver’s friend, and Melbourne native Puttock at the helm. The opening of the restaurant was chronicled in the series Jamie’s Kitchen Australia on Network Ten in 2006. The students train at Box Hill Institute of TAFE, where Puttock himself trained, and work as apprentices at Fifteen.

Now, four years later, Puttock and the rest of the staff at Fifteen are continuing to change the lives of young people through culinary apprenticeships. Many of the Australian apprentices from the first year of Fifteen’s creation in Melbourne have gone on to great culinary achievements at Melbourne hotels and restaurants. 89% of those who graduated from the program have gone on to work as chefs, or in a food-related industry.

One of the chefs at Fifteen, Julian, explained that on any given night there may be 3-5 chefs in the kitchen, and 2-5 apprentices. Sometimes things go slowly for the apprentices and the chefs may get frustrated and need to repeat themselves, but the reward of seeing the apprentice’s life turn around and become successful and determined is worth the extra time and trouble, Julian explained.

Another chef, Yvonne, explained the way that they support the apprentices, saying, “To some, you’re a mother; to others, you’re a teacher; and others, you’re just a support.”

Fifteen is based on a simple notion: find young people who need help, train and support them through apprenticeships, teach them work ethic, and open the doors to new opportunities.