Students test chops

With millions of dollars in scholarships on the line, teams of culinary students from throughout the state competed recently in the opening round of an annual national culinary cooking and restaurant-management competition.

The National ProStart Invitational is the country’s premier high school competition focused on restaurant management and culinary arts. It is produced by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The 15th annual National ProStart Invitational will be held in Dallas from April 29 to May 1.

The Rhode Island Hospitality Association and its education foundation hosted the state round in mid-March at the Hyatt Regency in Newport. Teams from Chariho Area Career & Technical Center, Cranston Area Career & Technical Center, Exeter Job Corps Academy, Newport Area Career & Technical Center and William M. Davies Jr. Career & Technical High School competed in two categories: culinary and management.

For the culinary competition, teams prepared and served a three-course meal in 60 minutes using only two butane burners with no access to running water or electricity. Management teams developed a business plan for a restaurant concept and solved management-level challenges.

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“I am so proud of all the hardworking students who dedicated months of practice and preparation for this event,” said Dale J. Venturini, president and CEO of the R.I. Hospitality Association and the R.I. Hospitality Education Foundation. “It’s because of students like this that Rhode Island is nationally recognized for its outstanding culinary scene.”

More than 30 professionals from the more than 650 food-service and hospitality members in Rhode Island judged the student teams. Six different colleges and universities pledged more than $950,000 in available scholarship money as part of the competition awards at the state level.

One of the judges, restaurateur Sam Glynn, proprietor of Chomp Kitchen and Drinks in Warren and the soon-to-open Statesman Tavern in Bristol, said, “The ProStart competition does a great job showing students what the restaurant industry is all about and paints a picture of what it takes to succeed in this industry. Cooking in front of judges and being critiqued on the execution of dishes is no easy task.”

The Culinary Arts Competition included challenges in food safety and sanitation and knife skills, in addition to the cook-off.

Teams were also judged on teamwork and cooperation, professionalism and appearance and plate presentation. The Food Service Management competition included verbal presentation of a restaurant concept and a written business plan.

The teams from Davies won the Culinary Arts and Food Service Management portions of the competition. They will now represent Rhode Island at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProStart Invitational competition. Second place in culinary was won by Newport County Career and Technical Center. The second-place management award went to Exeter Job Corps.

In 2013, more than $1.4 million in scholarships was awarded to students by the national association’s educational foundation and leading academic institutions. Johnson & Wales University offers several awards on the national level.

So Rhode Islanders have another local team to root for in a national student competition. •

Bruce Newbury’s Dining Out talk radio show is heard on 920 WHJJ-AM, 1540 WADK-AM and on mobile applications. He can be reached by email at Bruce@brucenewbury.com.

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