Summer camp that stresses cuisine, fashion?

Incubator Camps Debut At The Y

Fashion students

After spending three weeks honing his culinary skills at the 92nd Street Y’s Passport NYC program this summer, 15-year-old Daniel Krane has gone from preparing a latke or two onChanukah to vowing to host full Shabbat meals for his family.

“I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t starve to death in college,” said Krane, who had joined his triplet-sister Rebecca — a much more experienced cook — at the new Upper East Side sleep-away program.

Passport NYC, one of five programs launched this summer through the Foundation for Jewish Camp and Jim Joseph Foundation’s “Jewish Specialty Camp Incubator,” brought in teenagers from across the country to delve into fashion, culinary arts, music or film — and become experts on New York City all the while. Infused with a pluralistic Jewish flavor, programs included Shabbat and kashrut observance. Incoming ninth through 11th graders attended one of two three-week sessions this summer and slept in Y dormitories.

“These fields are all very ‘New York’ — we wanted to give them the most sophisticated, high-quality experience, and use New York as our playground,” said Sharon Goldman, program director of Passport.

The camp’s head director, Molly Hott, added, “The glamorous part of Passport NYC is that it’s a hybrid of everything: it’s the traditional summer camp meets college program, where you have the drive to follow one track. It also has a teen tour flair to it.”

Integral to their New York experience were meetings with experts in their fields of choice — the fashion campers, for example, enjoyed visits to Elle Magazine, Michael Kors, Bloomingdales and JCrew.

“The fashion industry is so competitive right now,” said Julia Baer, 14, from Westchester. “Having an experience like this gives you a step up.”

By working with teachers and with each other, campers say they were able to build confidence and conquer fears.

“I’m not good at finishing things, and here I got to see my idea grow from a little spark to being on the big screen,” said Gabby Gasser, 15, a film camper from Kansas City, Kan.

Similar sentiments emerged inside the kitchen.

“I was so afraid to pick up a knife — I didn’t want to cut myself,” said Shawn Feldman, 15, who now hopes to give some basic cooking lessons to the children she baby-sits.

For Ben Krasnow, learning how to operate a chef’s knife was also a challenge.

“I never used one of those before I came to camp,” said the 14-year-old from Palo Alto, Calif. “I want to go out a get a real chef’s knife.”

Despite growing up in a largely secular Jewish environment, Krasnow said he was undaunted by the weekly Shabbat experience, a relaxation period that allowed campers the freedom to “be religious in [their] own way.”

“For five days a week it was ‘go, go, go,’ waking up at 7 and going to the kitchen by 9,” Krasnow said.

Next year Goldman and Hott plan to expand the program, hopefully opening enrollment to 12th graders, adding a musical theater track and creating multiple levels so that campers can return for three or four years.

Beyond jumpstarting their careers and enjoying Jewish New York, the Passport campers said they valued the unique friendships they quickly formed with other teens that they wouldn’t normally even think to befriend.

“I’m this little punk kid who likes music — and this is Julia ‘from the Upper East Side’ and we get along great,” said Lexi Zotov, 14, of Boston.

She added, “What I love about this is how versatile everyone is and how much we could learn from each other.”

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