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Rita Yosef talks to us about the award-winning cooking school My Home Chef for people with disabilities.

Rita Yosef teaches a lot more than just recipes in her purpose-built teaching kitchen in Rolleston.

The students who come through the doors of My Home Chef, learn about knife skills, food safety and learning how to prepare a meal, but through cooking also gain invaluable independence, confidence and dignity.

“Everybody needs to know how to cook for themselves, it’s a key life skill,” says Rita.

“For many of my students, people assume they will always rely on parents, carers or support workers. We are trying to push them towards independence — to show them they can look after themselves.”

Rita, who was born in Latvia, raised in Israel and has lived in Canterbury for more than two decades, started My Home Chef after years working in hospitality and teaching cooking classes.

My Home Chef started in her Burnside home after a mother asked whether Rita could teach her daughter with special needs.

Rita remembers how the mother rang her after three classes to say that she could not believe the change in her daughter.

“That was the moment I understood how much difference this could make — not just for the student, but for the whole family.”

My Home Chef teachers offer one-on-one cooking lessons for neurodivergent and disabled students aged 12 and over, with classes tailored to each person’s needs, diet, abilities and goals.

The Rolleston school prides itself on its inclusive cooking environment with lowered benches, accessible layouts, quieter appliances, adaptive tools and personalised recipes.

“We didn’t want a cold, commercial kitchen, but a space that felt calm, homely and safe,” says Rita.

Classes and recipes are built around the students and their tastes, not the other way around.

Students with sensory sensitivities are gently guided to explore new flavours, textures and smells at their own pace.

“If someone can only tolerate certain foods, we don’t force them. We encourage them — maybe to lick the spoon, maybe to try a new flavour — and we have had a lot of success.”

One student, Aron, has become a symbol of what Rita believes is possible. When he first arrived, she says, he struggled to hold a knife properly. Now he cooks independently for his family three times a week.

“He even makes puff pastry from scratch — something even professional chefs can struggle with. We keep pushing him, but always at the level that is right for him.”

That balance — challenge without pressure — is central to the school’s approach. Some students come to build independence and confidence at home. Others are interested in a pathway into hospitality, with My Home Chef helping connect practical cooking skills to further training and possible certification.

Rita says the biggest barrier is often not ability, but attitudes in the community.

“The issue I have is employers who don’t want to employ people with neurodiversity,” she says. “They see someone with autism don’t want to deal with it.”

Rita has the ambition and vision to see more neurodivergent and disabled young people given real employment opportunities.

“They need jobs, instead of benefits or support services,” says Rita who is setting up a catering service from her kitchen and offer paid employment and real work experience to her students.

She says that the hospitality sector always complains about a lack of chefs or helping hands and people with a disability offer an untapped workforce.

“We just need to accept the people who are able to work and give them a chance,” says Rita who is planning to offer My Home Chef classes around the country, starting with Auckland.

My Home Chef has received multiple awards but for Rita, the most important recognition comes when a student goes home with food that they have made themselves — and with a little more belief in what they can do next.

“That confidence changes everything. Cooking is more than food. It is independence.”

Last modified: 21 Oct 2026 4:12pm