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Husband and wife team’s new venture mixes fun with culinary lessons for children

Hilton Head Island chefs, get ready: There’s a budding generation of cooks on the island.

Granted, most of them need a stepping stool to reach the counter, stovetop and cupboards, but they’re learning the basics of cooking at a young age, thanks to a unique new business launched by a local husband and wife team. The training ground? The Little Studenc’s Cooking Café & Sweet Treats, a local kitchen offering cooking classes and cooking birthday parties for children. Tucked within Pineland Station in the former location of Island Baskets, the school is owned and operated by Andrea and Scott Studenc, whose last name is aptly pronounced “students.”

Andrea Studenc, a former caterer, artist and  Hilton Head Islander of 26 years, teaches the classes and creates the baked goods and treats that are sold in the front section of the café. Scott Studenc, who also is a real estate appraiser, supplements the business by helping with “just about anything,” his wife said.

“He’s entirely hands-on,” Andrea Studenc said. “He can’t decorate cupcakes, but he’s always a helping hand.” As the former owners of Snowball Express — a popular summer stop that offered cool treats to kids and families at several hotspots around the island — the Studencs made the difficult decision to close their frosty treat business a couple of years ago.

“My husband kept saying, ‘When one door closes, another one opens,’ ” Andrea Studenc said. The new door opened for the couple of more than 10 years last fall when they heard of a kitchen opening for lease. The Studencs leased the space, and in December Little Studenc’s Cooking Café & Sweet Treats opened its doors.

Business really got cooking in February, Andrea Studenc said, with patrons requesting classes from a menu of birthday parties, Friday night pre-party slumber parties, cooking camps and a “drop & dine” feature which offers a twohour class for children so their parents can have a dinner to themselves.

There is no age requirement for participants, nor do they need to bring any tools or supplies. Each student receives a chef’s hat, apron and a recipe card with instructions to recreate one of the class’ dishes.

Kids also learn a little about proper nutrition. “I really felt that giving the kids a hands-on experience would enlighten them to eat the proper foods,” Andrea Studenc said, adding that each menu always has a healthy component. Along with good nutrition, good manners also are a part of the lesson plan.

“Still, we try to keep it silly with the kids as much as we can.”