Learn to cook.
Learn yourself.
Our non-profit volunteer trainee program offers real kitchen training in a working vegan restaurant, a close-knit community, and a foundation in conscious plant-based cooking you will carry for life.
A real kitchen. A real education.
“We don’t teach you to follow recipes. We teach you to understand food — its seasons, its logic, its relationship to the body and the person preparing it.”
Since 2016, Simone’s Kitchen has welcomed over 350 trainees from 45 nationalities through our non-profit training school, the Good Food Institute. We are not a catering college. We are something rarer: a real working restaurant where you learn by doing — every evening service, every Sunday brunch, every dish on the table.
Our four-course dinner menu rotates every three weeks, celebrating a different world cuisine through a fully plant-based, organic lens. As a trainee, you move through every stage of that menu — from mise en place and preparation to plating and service — building a genuine, rounded foundation in vegan fine-dining cookery.
We ask for a minimum stay of four weeks and a maximum of three months. Four weeks is long enough to find your rhythm and absorb the work. Three months means you will move through up to four complete menu cycles — watching the kitchen reinvent itself each time from a different cuisine, different ingredients, a different creative challenge. The longer you stay, the deeper that understanding goes.
We keep the group small — typically three trainees at a time — so that every person receives genuine attention and mentorship, not just a station to stand at. Past trainees have come from across Europe and beyond, from many different backgrounds and life stages. What unites them is curiosity: about food, about cooking, and about themselves.
All three of our chef managers began as volunteer trainees themselves. That is not coincidence. It is the foundation of how we work and how we treat the people who join us.
Your full package
This is a volunteer placement, not paid employment. But it is far from nothing. In exchange for your five shifts a week you receive a real package of support — designed so that your time here is sustainable, and the learning continues long after you leave.
Accommodation
A room in the building above the restaurant — private or shared with one other trainee depending on availability. All rooms are cleaned and prepared for your arrival.
Weekly expenses
A flat reimbursement of €30 per week to cover personal costs, paid monthly. A formal volunteer arrangement under Belgian law with GFI VZW, including a signed contract.
All meals
Full use of the kitchen and food stock for breakfast and lunch. During service you eat from the restaurant menu once guests have been served — the same four-course menu the restaurant serves each evening.
Insurance
Covered by our volunteer insurance policy (AXA 010.730.464.669) for the full duration of your placement. Details are included in your volunteer agreement on arrival.
Two full days off
Two consecutive days off every week — genuinely free time to explore Antwerp, rest, or travel. Days rotate across the team to ensure service is always covered.
Know Thyself — full access, forever
Every trainee receives lifetime access to the Know Thyself app: the complete recipe and seasonal menu library, all constitutional cooking guides, and the full self-development program. The kitchen teaches you how to cook. The app helps you understand why food matters to you specifically — and gives you the tools to keep exploring that long after your placement ends.
The structure of your stay
From your first day to your last, the program is designed to build genuine skill and confidence — not just exposure to a professional kitchen.
Arrive and settle in
You join a small team — typically three trainees at a time — from a wide range of countries and backgrounds. We take time at the start to help you understand the rhythm of the kitchen and the community before service begins.
Enter the current menu cycle
Wherever you join the three-week rotation, you will work through every element of the current four-course menu — learning the preparation, seasoning decisions, and plating from the inside out.
Work across the full kitchen
We do not place trainees in one station and leave them there. Over your stay you rotate through prep, cooking, and service — building a complete picture of how a restaurant actually functions.
Experience a menu change
Every three weeks the entire menu changes cuisine. Participating in that creative reinvention — from concept to execution — is one of the most valuable things the program offers. Stay for three months and you will see it happen up to four times.
Typical working week
Saturday morning shift
Day off
Example pattern showing Monday & Tuesday off. Days off rotate across the team — everyone gets two consecutive days each week. Evening shifts run 17:00–22:00 · Saturday morning 09:00–14:00 · Sunday brunch 08:30–13:30. To request a specific day off, let Davide know by the Saturday the week before.
People who started exactly where you are
Our chef managers all began as volunteer trainees. That is not coincidence — it is the foundation of how we work and how we treat the people who join us.
Davide
A Master of Law by training, a chef by calling. Davide brings international vegan fine-dining experience from retreats and hotels across India, Vietnam, Portugal, and Austria. His path to leading our kitchen is driven by a singular passion: mastering the art of plant-based cuisine.
Ruth
Ruth arrived as a volunteer and stayed as family. She brings warmth, directness, and an instinctive understanding of what makes a kitchen a place people genuinely want to be in.
Chala
Thai-born, raised in Antwerp from the age of seven, Chala is rooted in this city and this kitchen. He guides trainees through the rhythms of Belgian seasons and the character of our neighbourhood.
Alistair
Alistair began as a volunteer from England and never quite left. He oversees operations and makes sure the community we have built — trainees, team, and guests — stays exactly that: a community.
The Good Food Institute exists because we believe that learning to cook well — really cook, with intention and understanding — changes how you relate to food, to your body, and to other people.
Plant-based cookery is not a restriction. It is an invitation to cook more creatively, more seasonally, and more consciously than most professional training ever allows.
Food is constitutional. What we eat, how we prepare it, and who we share it with are not incidental choices — they are expressions of who we are. A kitchen is one of the finest classrooms for self-knowledge that exists. That is why we do not just train cooks. We train people who understand why they cook the way they do.
Practical details — sent on acceptance
The following information is shared with trainees once a place has been confirmed. It covers house guidelines, shared spaces, and the practical day-to-day details you will need before you arrive at Breughelstraat 32.
Kitchen & food
- The kitchen and food stock are yours to use freely for your own meals. Breakfast and lunch are self-prepared — we encourage cooking together and trying new things.
- Menu production ingredients for dinner service and brunch are shared with guests. Use them thoughtfully — if you are unsure whether there is enough for service, check with a manager first.
- During service you eat from the restaurant menu once guests have been served.
- Drinks: one soft drink per week from the stock is yours. Alcoholic drinks are an occasional exception — please ask a manager first.
- Please clean the kitchen and dishes after your own cooking. Keep the restaurant area clear of personal items — drawers and cupboards are available for your use.
B&B guests & the front door
- B&B guests have their own check-in instructions. If a guest asks you something you are unsure about, let them know you are a trainee, invite them to wait, and find a manager.
- If no manager is available, direct guests to the main number: 0032 472 19 16 14.
- When the restaurant is not open, you do not need to answer the front door. The main number is displayed on the door for urgent enquiries.
Your room & shared spaces
- Your room will be clean and prepared when you arrive. When you leave, please clean your room and put fresh sheets on the bed.
- Rooms left in poor condition may result in forfeiture of your weekly volunteer expenses.
- Toilets and showers are shared — please keep them in a reasonable state, especially the main toilet on the first floor.
- The laundry machines are available for personal clothes every Wednesday.
Fire alarm — If the alarm sounds, the control panel is immediately on your left as you descend into the basement. Press RESET, then enter 1 — 2 — 3.
These guidelines exist because we genuinely live and work together. The kitchen, the dining room, and the building are all shared — by the team, the trainees, and our guests. Treating these spaces with care is not a rule imposed from above. It is what makes the whole thing work.
Ready to apply?
Tell us a little about yourself — your background, what draws you to plant-based cooking, and when you are hoping to join us. Places are limited to three trainees at a time, so we review applications on a rolling basis.
Minimum 4 weeks · maximum 3 months
No prior professional experience required
English working language
Prefer to get in touch directly? Email
s@simoneskitchen.com
or call +32 472 19 16 14