CRESSKILL, N.J.—On Nov. 16, the kitchen in the American Legion Camp Merritt Post 21 in Cresskill was filled with scrumptious Thanksgiving sights and smells, as groups of young scouts gathered around master chef Jack Koumbis for a cooking class.
Renowned for his culinary creativity, Koumbis enjoyed a longtime career as a chef and owner of The Assembly Steakhouse and the Bicycle Club in Englewood Cliffs. He also worked as a chef and manager at several restaurants in New York City and Miami and served as chairman of the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association.
Several years ago, Koumbis went from graduating #1 in his class at the Culinary Institute to being a number one chef for charity.
“After 40 years in the hospitality business, I decided I needed a change,” Koumbis said. “So I started selling real estate for Keller Williams in Tenafly and have since become the broker of record.”
While working as a realtor, Koumbis, started doing cooking classes called “Kookin’ With Koumbis,” and he donates his time and talent and often the delicious food that is made to charitable causes. The classes are seasonal and he tries to do four of them a year.
The recent Thanksgiving-themed class involved local branches of the charitable organizations the Lions, Elks, and Knights of Columbus. (On Nov. 23, he cooked the entire pasta dinner for the Knights of Columbus in Closter!)
Recently, Koumbis learned about Merlin’s Kids (www.merlinskids.org) through a real estate agent in his office, Rebecca Miller Pringle. She is a veteran and her daughter is a cancer survivor and was the recipient of one of the service dogs from Merlin’s Kids.
After Pringle attended a Kookin’ with Koumbis last June, she immediately asked him to do one for Merlin’s Kids.
Merlin’s Kids, a nonprofit organization, takes rescue dogs and allows local families to do initial training. The dogs are then sent to Missouri where they undergo several months of service dog training paid for by Merlin’s Kids, and the service dogs are donated to those in need, such as veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and kids with cancer.
“I agreed to help Rebecca do a Thanksgiving fundraiser event at the Cresskill American Legion, and what better than Kookin’ with Koumbis with the kids,” Koumbis relates.
As such, over 30 children from several troops—Tenafly Family Scout Troop 86 (with both boy and girl scouts), Dumont Girl Scout Troop 96931 and Boy Scout Troop 96917 from Paramus—gathered in the kitchen at the Cresskill American Legion Post for a cooking experience of a lifetime. The scouts also received their cooking badges as well as community service badges.
Pringle was overjoyed at the large turnout.
“It is amazing that Jack is doing this for my daughter, Giza, who has had five cancerous tumors in her eyes. I am also a cancer survivor and a veteran (formerly stationed in Korea), so having this event at the American Legion post is especially meaningful. He is such a wonderful guy!”
At 12:30 p.m., Koumbis made a welcoming speech.
“We are celebrating Veterans Day month so we are here in the American Legion Post. We are also celebrating gratitude, we’re learning how to cook, we’re earning badges and we’re raising money for a great organization,” he said.
From noon to 4, the youngsters learned and tried out Koumbis’ prized recipes for Thanksgiving favorites, including pumpkin pie, stuffing, cranberry compote, butternut squash soup and Brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and onions. Parents who had escorted their children to the event were also eager to watch and learn.
Wearing chef’s toques, the children made fresh whipped cream, and assembled the ingredients for all the dishes.
Koumbis taught the youngsters his technique for holding a sharp knife safely when chopping fruits and vegetables.
The children were delighted with their new cooking skills and they marveled when some of the Merlin’s Kids service dogs made an appearance.
At 1, the children had a wonderful surprise—a visit from one of Merlin’s Kids service dogs, Savannah. The large Rhodesian Ridgeback was escorted into the room by Merlin’s Kids’ founder Janice Wolfe, who is a three-time cancer survivor.
Squealing with delight, the children flocked around Savannah for petting and hugging.
While the children played with Savannah, Koumbis and his assistants made a tasty lunch for everyone, consisting of a spinach, pear and cranberry salad with blue cheese, penne pasta, chicken fingers and French fries. There were also plates filled with cookies and slices of homemade pumpkin and marble cake.
At the end of the afternoon, each child went home with a pumpkin pie that they made. Koumbis’ company, The Koumbis Group, donated all the proceeds to Merlin’s Kids as well as the food and lunch for the kids and their parents.
Kookin’ With Koumbis had several corporate sponsors and on-site assistants. For Koumbis, it was a gratifying win-win situation.
“I am happy to share what I have learned with others. I am grateful for the many successes I have had through the years and I want to give back to others and this is a way for me to share my knowledge and skills with young people,” he said. “Hopefully, I will inspire them to keep these skills alive. I want to communicate the simplicity of it. I love doing this because it is an easy way for me to pay it forward.”