After-School Cooking Classes Teach Kids How to Love Food and Cooking

Photography by Susan English Photography, Courtesy of Sticky Fingers Cooking

Back in 2011 when Erin Fletter was sitting around her family’s kitchen table with her three daughters and her husband, she had the inspiration for Sticky Fingers Cooking. The after-school cooking classes were a hit in local schools and the business grew year after year. Erin was able to run the business from her home since the classes all took place at schools and other public spaces.

Photo Courtesy of Sticky Fingers Cooking

“It meant the world to me to be able to stay at home with my own kids while also building my business that helps other families,” says Erin, founder and CEO of Sticky Fingers Cooking.

The cooking classes start at age three and accommodate all food allergies while also teaching kids about geography, math, science, and how to love food and cooking for a lifetime.

By 2016, Sticky Fingers Cooking had expanded to Texas and Illinois and it wasn’t just Erin on a laptop in a spare room of the family’s historic 1890 Potter Highlands Victorian home. Erin and her husband, Ryan Fletter, are also the owners of Barolo Grill, one of Denver’s most beloved Italian restaurants.

The couple took the plunge on expanding the business when the twin house next door came up for sale in 2019. The houses are so close that it would be possible to cool pies on a shelf spanned between open windows of each place! The historic character of this place inspires the team to dream up new recipes with its homey vibe as opposed to a traditional office building space.

The two-story three-bedroom house now serves as a meeting place for Sticky Fingers Cooking, which is now expanding nationwide with a franchise model. The beauty of this business is that the classes are taught in schools and other public facilities allowing many of the behind-the-scenes business details to happen in any comfortable space.

Now the company’s Director of Finance, Chief of Staff, Chief Operating Officer, and CEO all meet around the dining room table next door to Erin’s home. As franchisees join the brand they come here to Denver and the house serves as a training facility where they can practice making some of the company’s signature recipes among other tasks.

“This is a dream come true for me,” says Erin. “As we meet with prospective franchisees I am living proof that each one of them can successfully run this business from home.”

Since she was able to create a space to simply visit with team members, Erin hopes it will serve as inspiration to those building their own business. “We wanted it to be open, comfortable, cozy, functional, and inviting,” she says.

Since quite a few of the company’s staff happen to be neighbors in this Highlands spot, it’s convenient to connect for a quick in-person chat in the living room or around the dining room table. “It’s the perfect solution for a collaborative, sometimes in-person and sometimes virtual, team in an untraditional space.”