history of the kitchen house

In 2011, there was a meeting of the minds. From there, a unique community resource was born.

The collaboration began between community professionals and key educators to create a Nutritional Science Lab at Orlando Junior Academy, located across the street from what is now the Emeril Lagasse Foundation Kitchen House & Culinary Garden. As the program blossomed, an Advisory Committee formed. This led to the creation of Edible Education Experience as an independent 501(c)(3) with its own leadership, facility and programming.

Through a 2013 capital campaign, OJA donated the property and, after a visit by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, the Emeril Lagasse Foundation pledged a $250,000 grant to build the Emeril Lagasse Kitchen House & Culinary Garden. AdventHealth for Children (then named Florida Hospital for Children) joined the campaign along with in-kind donations. Later, President/CEO of AdventHealth’s Central Florida Region, Daryl Tol, pledged another $250,000 to the project, netting a fully funded capital project. In 2014, Edible Education Experience, alongside Chef Lagasse and other community leaders, held a ceremonial ground-breaking. The design and permitting process commenced. 

The Emeril Lagasse Foundation Kitchen House & Culinary Garden opened in April 2017. In 2025, Edible Education Experience became The Kitchen House.

The centrally located facility is a simple, yet beautiful, 3,500 sq. ft. kitchen house with four cooking stations that opens onto a veranda overlooking the garden that perfectly serves The Kitchen House’s mission is to teach our community to grow, cook and enjoy a more plant-forward diet for personal and environmental health.