Screening of the Documentary "Knife Skills"

This film features a fine French dining restaurant, Edwins, located in Cleveland, Ohio. The restaurant is unique in the fact that the owner Brandon Chrostowski exclusively hires formerly incarcerated individuals. Not only is Edwins a place of employment, but it is also a culinary school. Many of the men and women accepted into the program have never worked in a restaurant, let alone prepare fine French cuisine. Edwins teaches its trainees in kitchen, cooking, and hospitality skills necessary to operate a restaurant. Edwins also serves as a support network to facilitate a successful reentry. “Knife Skills" follows the hectic launch of Edwins restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. In this improbable setting, with its mouthwatering dishes and its arcane French vocabulary, we discover the challenges of men and women finding their way after their release. We come to know three trainees intimately, as well as the restaurant’s founder, who is also dogged by his past. They all have something to prove, and all struggle to launch new lives — an endeavor as pressured and perilous as the ambitious restaurant launch of which they are a part. As with all Criminal Justice Research Center related events, all are welcome.