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# Culinary student serves it up
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/culinary-student-serves-it-up/
- Published: 2004-09-28T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:14:03.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Daily Press staff*

A culinary student from St. Josephs’ Center got a taste last week of what it means to serve the food she has spent weeks preparing for.

Ardalur Atkins served with a smile last Wednesday at Border Grill’s outdoor “modern Mexican” restaurant at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market in order to fulfill some of her intern hours in the center’s 10-week food preparation and training program.

“I love the people in the food industry,” Atkins said. “The managers, the chefs, the customers. There’s so much positive energy. And I believe that once you set your goal, you must follow your dream. My goal is to start a soul food restaurant that everyone can afford.”

Border Grill’s involvement with St. Joseph Center over the past three years has included two tours of the Fourth Street restaurant for culinary training students and, last year, a media lunch by 20 chefs to introduce “Share Our Strength,” as well as meet with community activists, and taste the dishes featured in the Taste of the Nation fundraiser.

Each spring, “Share Our Strength,” one of the nation’s leading anti-hunger, antipoverty organizations, presents Taste of the Nation, when more than 10,000 community leaders in more than 65 cities across the United States and Canada organize one-of-a-kind culinary events. Since 1988, the events have distributed more than $58 million, which have supported more than 450 organizations working to end hunger and poverty in the United States and abroad.

St. Joseph Center’s culinary program provides 10 weeks of training in food service and life skills, and places 68 percent of its graduates in jobs within 90 days after graduation. Established in 1991, the program has graduated hundreds of students who have gone on to gain careers in the food service industry.

The center also provides emergency services, child care, case management, and senior services for homeless and low-income men, women, and children on eight sites in Venice, Santa Monica and West Los Angeles.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/092804-06_01.jpg)

(Left to right): Raquel Naranjo, Border Grill chef; with Ardalur Atkins, St. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 28, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092804.pdf?ref=smdp.com)