‘Feed Your Soul,’ Says our Next Chance Taker

Cole Benner SCHancetaker Maine Dinner Club, Photographed with Food

May 4, 2023

Cole Benner, a junior at SCH who summers in Maine, is launching an “ocean-to-table” dinner club near the rocky shores: The Brooksville Dinner Club. Think cool nights, a fire pit, and a pot of lobsters.

This young chef—our next chance taker—came very close to spending eight months as a contestant of Master Chef Junior at age 11 (he declined), but never lost the will to whip up a good meal. So, this year, he took a chance on launching an entirely new business through the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership’s venture accelerator program. He realized his venture would only work if he “fed his soul.”

“This is my rendition of traditional Maine,” says Benner whose outdoor dining experience will be open select weeks from June through August. “I’m passionate about the work I’m doing, the cooking, and all that goes into it; and I’m passionate about Maine.”

The Brooksville Dinner Club will be an “immersive experience,” he says, with fire-grilled seafood right off the line (his twin brother is an avid fisherman!) and herbs from his backyard garden. He recently pitched his dinner club venture at the spring CEL Venture Showcase and received rave reviews for his blueberry (aka 4th-of-July) tart and twice-baked potatoes with bacon jam. Fancy a trip to Maine, anyone? Our mouths are already watering.