On a recent afternoon in South L.A., more than a dozen young cooks turned the 60th Street Cafe into a full-on neighborhood restaurant, serving family and neighbors dishes they had developed over a six-week training run. The cafe, operated by the SoLa Foundation, pulls double duty as a classroom, with cohorts rotating through kitchen stations, front-of-house shifts, and entrepreneurship lessons. Organizers say the setup is designed to create paid pathways into hospitality jobs while also giving the community better access to affordable, healthy meals.
The training behind the cafe is called Kitchen to Capital, a no-cost, six-week culinary fellowship that folds in skills training, ServSafe certifications, and a $1,300 completion stipend, according to SoLa Foundation. SoLa’s site outlines cohort dates, weekday classroom hours, and an on-the-job "capstone" cafe takeover that functions as real-world service practice. The foundation describes the cafe as both a training lab and a test kitchen for local food entrepreneurs.
SoLa launched the training in fall 2025 with help from a county workforce grant, seeded with nearly $1 million from the High Road Training Partnership, part of a $17.8 million HRTP funding round announced by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. As described by the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity, HRTP grants are meant to build industry-informed training pipelines in high-growth sectors. SoLa leaders say proceeds from the cafe are expected to help carry the workforce programming beyond the initial grant year.
Training, Placements, and Student Stories
The fellowship wraps with a public "cafe takeover" that serves as a final exam, with students running the entire service and inviting the neighborhood to try their menus. As reported by Eater LA, instructors have included chef Keith Corbin and Dulan’s general manager Christian Ferrell, and program staff say some trainees have already moved into barista and catering jobs. The program director told Eater they aim to graduate 100 students in the first year and place roughly 75 into unsubsidized employment or apprenticeships.
How the Training Works
The curriculum blends classroom lessons, industry field trips, and hands-on shifts in the cafe, and includes certifications such as ServSafe and allergen training, according to SoLa Foundation. Cohorts typically meet on-site Monday and Tuesday, spend Wednesday visiting restaurants and suppliers off-site, then return later in the week for more cafe practice. Local restaurant veterans lead sessions on menu development, food costing, barista skills, and front-of-house operations, giving students a crash course in how a professional kitchen really runs.
Why It Matters
The cafe operates in a part of South Los Angeles where the median household income sits around $54,000, and an estimated 27.1 percent of residents live below the poverty line, according to data compiled by Census Reporter. Food insecurity is also a countywide problem, with a recent USC Dornsife study finding that about one in four Los Angeles County households struggled to afford enough food. Local leaders argue that workforce programs that double as neighborhood food outlets can chip away at both employment gaps and food access issues. Eater LA notes that SoLa Impact plans a sister cafe inside a Crenshaw Corridor housing project slated to open in March 2026.
Organizers and instructors describe the 60th Street Cafe as more than vocational training. They see it as a community hub where students can practice service, build confidence, and test business ideas with real customers from the neighborhood. If the early cohorts are any indication, the program could become a steady pipeline of entry-level hospitality workers for South L.A. restaurants and caterers, and a launchpad for new food businesses to take root close to home.
