The Aloe Restaurant in Edison, New Jersey, is not your typical eatery. It’s a restaurant and school in one.

 Chef Ralph Amiano is the instructor.

“I work with great people, and the students inspire me daily,” he says.

For Ralph, cooking is in his blood.

“It brings people together, as I say. When I grew up in a big Italian family, every Sunday it was dinner at Nana’s house. Regardless of your plans, drop your plans. We’re going to Nana’s house on Sundays.”

For nearly 40 years, Ralph worked in the food service industry, successfully running his own restaurant. Then…

“I wanted to try something different, out of my realm, something challenging. I thought why not take all my years of experience and teach the youth how to cook.”

Ralph applies his decades of experience and skills teaching in the culinary program at the MTC-operated Edison Job Corps Center in New Jersey. The Aloe student restaurant was Ralph’s idea.

“It’s a restaurant. We serve bread and butter. We make the butter homemade. Everything in here is made from scratch.

“We’re full on Fridays. We’re only open on Fridays. We have an 11:00 o’clock, 12:00 o’clock, and a 1:00 o’clock. So, we do three seatings on Friday. We are booked for reservations.”

But for Ralph, it’s about more than just cooking a good meal.

“Yes, it is about knife skills. Yes, it is about sanitation. Yes, it is about cross-contamination and safety. But there’s more to food service. Learning how to deal with people. Learning how to talk to people.”

For Ralph, his students’ success is his joy.

“Proud is an understatement. These students come here every single day with a smile on their faces regardless of what they’ve been through or what they’re going through in their life. And it’s humbling to see that they put 100 percent in every single day.”