A former Elizabethton restaurant will reopen this year with a new mission — to serve more than food to the community.

When the Bonnie Kate Café closed its doors, owner Cindy Higgs said she immediately began thinking about what would come next.

“We kept thinking who we could serve the best,” she said.

Higgs and Executive Chef Em Nidiffer brainstormed about things they could do to serve the community.

“It kept coming back to youth or teens,” Nidiffer said. “Teenagers need a platform, an opportunity.”

Growing up in Elizabethton, Nidiffer said there was nothing for her or other young people to do. As a kid, Nidiffer made her own opportunity when, at the age of 11, she met with Higgs and Higgs’ husband, Brian, and created her own volunteer position at The Bonnie Kate.

“I just pushed my way into this volunteer position that wasn’t there,” Nidiffer said as she laughed. Higgs shared the moment of laughter with her friend. “She just wouldn’t go away,” Higgs said.

Nidiffer worked off and on at The Bonnie Kate for nine years and became a close family friend to Higgs. She went on to join the Peace Corps and travel the world, visiting 19 countries and living in four of them. After a Peace Corps assignment was cut short, Nidiffer returned to Elizabethton and to The Bonnie Kate. When Higgs began planning the next move for the building, Nidiffer knew she wanted to create opportunities for young people that she never had when she was their age. It was through Higgs and Nidiffer’s desire to serve the community and young people that the idea of The Bonnie Kate Kitchen was born.

The kitchen has become a nonprofit organization that will help teach job and life skills to young people. The mission statement for the new venture is “A community kitchen that connects history, the local community, and young people through: food education, cooking skills, and healthy living.”

Together, the two friends have created a nine-week internship program that will work with teens and young adults on a variety of job and life skills in a restaurant setting. The participants will get first-hand experience working in a commercial kitchen while also learning other skills as well.

“We will bring in the teens and not just teach them culinary skills, but also life skills,” Higgs said. The program will teach them job related skills such as how to interview for a job and professionalism but will also promote community involvement while giving the opportunity to meet local civic leaders.

Over the years working with The Bonnie Kate, Higgs and Nidiffer said they have noticed many of the young people coming in to look for work were suffering from a skills gap. The two women hope to use The Bonnie Kate Kitchen to help bridge that gap.

“We want to help them become an asset to the workforce,” Nidiffer said.

Young people who participate in the program will work in the commercial restaurant and will learn all of the tasks and jobs needed to keep a restaurant operating.

“Everyone is going to work and rotate so they learn every aspect,” Nidiffer said.

The restaurant will be open to the public with proceeds being put back into the program to help even more young people. “The cost of the meals will allow us to have the program,” Higgs said.

“It will be a self-sustaining model,” Nidiffer said, adding that donations will be needed to get the program started.

While the kitchen will operate as a non-profit 501(c)3 program, Nidiffer and Higgs said it will be unlike any other non-profit food program around.

“A lot of 501(c)3’s have that model, the ‘give a man a fish’ model,” Nidiffer said. “We want this to be more of a ‘teach a man to fish’ program.”

During the pilot year of the program, The Bonnie Kate Kitchen will be open on weekends, serving three meals a day on Saturday and serving brunch on Sunday. After the pilot year is complete, Nidiffer said they will look at adding more days and meals.

The two women are planning a Mother’s Day Brunch as the kick off event for The Bonnie Kate Kitchen.

The program is currently accepting applications for enrollment and is also accepting donations of food stocks, supplies and also financial contributions.

“Seeing the enthusiasm from the youth is confirmation of what we are doing,” Nidiffer said, adding some young people have already filled out applications. Interest in the program is high, she said, adding she has been contacted by a local school to discuss setting up a partnership agreement to possibly provide high school credit for completion of the program.

For more information on the program, to enroll, to donate or to see the wish list of needed items, visit www.thebonniekate.com and click on the link for The Bonnie Kate Kitchen.