Fuel the Body
Just being a kid
7-12
'People really enjoy my food': 11-year-old chef draws in dozens of customers
Photo and reporting by
WTMJ
By 6 a.m. Saturday, Raquelle Boyd, 11, known to her customers as Chef Kisses, was deep into her second drive-thru pop-up: fried chicken, collard greens, mac n cheese, cornbread. Dozens of people showed up, some waiting two hours, for a menu an 11-year-old planned and cooked herself.
The parent pitched in
Helped with it: the Boyds fronted the money for Raquelle's first pop-up as investors, then let her pay for the second one herself, menu, balloons, flyers, all of it, out of what she'd earned.
Why we picked this one
Notice the order of operations. First pop-up, the parents bankroll it and stand close by in case it flops. Second pop-up, she pays her own way and they let her. That's the whole arc of this one, not the fried chicken.
Pick a night you already have people coming over, a birthday, a cousin's visit, whatever's on the calendar. Your kid writes the menu, makes the grocery list, and cooks the whole thing start to finish. You're there for the stove and the raw chicken, nothing else.
Read the full story at
WTMJ
Where it happened:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Somewhere in your kitchen there's a stove your kid already knows how to use. The only question is whether you're still the one turning it on for them.