For 30 years, soft-spoken chef Jimmy Lee Hill has run a highly regarded culinary training program out of a prison in Coldwater, Mich., offering incarcerated men a renewed sense of purpose through the craft of fine dining — everything from foie gras to lobster. “Coldwater Kitchen” follows Chef Hill and three of his students — one facing a life sentence, another battling an opioid addiction, and a third returning to the city where he once dealt drugs — as they navigate the woes of incarceration and the difficulties of transitioning back into society.
Coldwater Kitchen is a 2023 James Beard Foundation media award winner for best documentary. "The James Beard award not only validates the power of the film, but also the power of Chef Hill’s program to support and transform the lives of incarcerated men through the restorative power of food," said Kathy Kieliszewski, senior news director for visuals at the Free Press and a producer of the film. "We are honored and humbled to have been able to tell and share their stories."
Special Guests: Directors Brian Kaufman and Mark Kurlyandchik, Film Subject Chef Hill, Film Subject Dink Dawson
Chef Jimmy Lee Hill: As a chef/instructor inside a correctional facility, I also wear many hats: mentor, teacher and friend. The reason why I continue to make this 134-mile round trip to the job is because I feel that my students, regardless of the circumstances as to why they are here, once they enroll into the culinary arts program, deserves the same chance as a Culinary Institute of America or a Johnson and Wales University student to receive the same training and information: to become a well-rounded culinary professional.
Brian Kaufman is the executive video producer for the Detroit Free Press, where he has worked for over a decade to bridge the gap between video journalism and documentary film. His work has been awarded three national Emmy awards and was recently part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning package on President Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico. His most recent film, “12th and Clairmount,” which tells the story of Detroit’s 1967 riot/rebellion, screened at DOC NYC and Full Frame in 2017. Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman called the film “a revelatory portrait of the city... illuminating and innovatively crafted.”
Mark Kurlyandchik began work on “Coldwater Kitchen,” he was the Detroit Free Press’ restaurant critic. He has since left the paper to pursue a career blending his food expertise and background in documentary film. He honed his filmmaking skills at the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism under the tutelage of legendary doc filmmakers Jon Else and Orlando Bagwell. Kurlyandchik is the recipient of two Michigan Emmy awards. His previous film, “Dinner In Abruzzo,” a short doc about two chefs’ journey to Italy, screened at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival and the Napa Valley Film Festival.
Dink Dawson is featured in the film. While incarcerated, Dawson was a tutor at Chef Jimmy Lee Hill's highly regarded culinary training program at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Mich. After serving a 7-year prison sentence, Dink Dawson returned to the Detroit neighborhood where he once dealt drugs to open the Green Mile Grille. Dawson's daughter, Daquana Sistrunk, proudly works by her father's side.