There’s a fresh set of chefs leading the charge in healthy eating across Austin. 

Five chefs were recently awarded $9,000 each from the first Austin Eats grant for culinary entrepreneurship. Austin Eats is under the leadership of Austin Coming Together and is an initiative by over 20 local partner organizations to reimagine access to healthy foods in Austin.  

The winners of the Austin Eats grant were recognized for doing just that, increasing health and wellness education through food. They include: Jamaican restaurant Jam Grill; caterer Katr2U; KHC Culinary, which provides private chef services and cooking classes; Mafunzo International Fitness and Kitchen, which offers catering, meal plans and physical training; and Vegan World Cafe, a catering company with takeout and limited dine-in seating.  

“I screamed. I was so excited,” said Kyra Hawkins-Chambers, owner of KHC Culinary, about when she learned she won the grant. After an application process, recipients found out late last year that they won the Austin Eats grant. 

“I was very surprised. I’m very grateful and honored to receive the grant,” said Ali Kleiche, chef, nutritionist and coach at Mafunzo International Fitness and Kitchen. 

Kleiche, an Austin resident, started Mafunzo International in 2021 after hearing people on the West Side’s growing concerns about health and diet at the start of the pandemic. Kleiche is a former Division I athlete who has lost many family members to chronic diseases. 

“I realized that there is a need for creating something – a program, a business – that can help people eat better, train better and just be overall healthy,” Kleiche said. “That’s why I started Mafunzo.”  

Kleiche volunteers with the Chicago Park District to teach boxing in La Follette Park and offers free exercise classes full of breathing, stretching and light cardio throughout the summer around Austin. He’s also working with Austin Eats, churches, schools and community organizations to lead free cooking demonstrations and classes in the neighborhood. 

The $9,000 Austin Eats grant will fund Mafunzo International’s materials and food for cooking demonstrations, plus equipment for free fitness classes, like boxing gloves and water bottles. 

Hawkins-Chambers started as a private chef in 2019 while she was in culinary school and launched KHC Culinary in 2023. She’s using her $9,000 Austin Eats grant to buy supplies for the cooking club at Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School in Austin, where she attended high school. In addition to buying equipment to use in the club, Hawkins-Chambers purchased Instant Pots for the club’s seniors as a graduation gift.  

“Whenever I am helping out students or anything, it doesn’t come at a cost to them,” Hawkins-Chambers said.   

She’s also using the Austin Eats grant money to buy materials to use in the By the Hand Club for Kids after school program Austin Harvest – a student-run produce market. On May 14, Hawkins-Chambers will put on a cooking demonstration at Austin Harvest and sell healthy meals to the community. She plans to host a similar event two or three times a month. 

“What we’re trying to do is incorporate the fresh ingredients that they have access to at Austin Harvest,” Hawkins-Chambers said of the cooking demonstration. While she’s thinking of making chicken with a roasted garlic and mushroom mash, she’s sure of one ingredient she wants to use.  

“One thing I want to highlight is the carrot,” Hawkins-Chambers said, adding that she’ll present the carrots whole and Vichy-style with a sweet glaze.  

“My long-term goal is to end up being able to teach children how to cook while still running my private chef business,” Hawkins-Chambers said. She added that a self-described miniature cooking school would be “a safe place for kids to come and to learn. Because if we want a change with food and how kids see healthy things – or just how adults see healthy things – we have to target them as children.”  

Hawkins-Chambers will also be at Maryville Crisis Nursery’s first annual family and health safety fair on June 14, where she’ll do another cooking demonstration. 

All five grant recipients will have food demonstrations at the Austin Town Hall Farmers Market this summer, every Thursday from 1 to 6 p.m. starting June 12  

At one of his demonstrations, Kleiche said he’ll make his specialty kale salad with blueberries, cashews, onions, garlic and olive oil. Or easy vegan dishes with curry chickpeas, lentils or quinoa.  

“We’re making a lot of various healthy recipes that are also flavorful,” Kleiche said on a phone call with Austin Weekly News while visiting Morocco. While he’s there, he’s stocking up on spices to use in upcoming cooking demos around Austin.  

“This grant is literally a source of motivation for me to continue my work and education to our communities at large with healthy eating options and help the members of the community feel good about themselves and be the best version of themselves,” Kleiche said. “I’m not stopping here because I’m going to keep working to create better opportunities for the people of the Austin community.”