Students to show culinary chops
High schoolers will compete in ProStart Cup on March 7-8 at Long Beach Convention Center
When making sugar cookies as a kid with his mom and grandmother, Isiah Greene discovered his profound love for the culinary arts.
“The experience and that time spent with my family made me happy and I think that's why I love culinary so much,” he said.
Greene, 17, is a senior at Bonita High School in La Verne and will be traveling to Long Beach next week to compete in a culinary competition with his team at the California Restaurant Foundation's annual ProStart Cup.
ProStart Cup is a high-stakes culinary arts and restaurant entrepreneurship competition that brings together California's next generation of culinary talent, according to a press release.
The California Restaurant Foundation is a trade organization whose mission is to promote the food service industry. It hosts the ProStart Cup each year for students to receive scholarships and gain work experience.
“We work with about 140 high school culinary arts programs across the state during the school year to provide job readiness training, industry engagement, professional development for the teachers, and enrich the classroom experience,” said Alycia Harshfield, executive director of the California Restaurant Foundation.
More than 250 California high school students will be competing in the competition this year for a chance to win $500,000 in scholarships combined — given to first through fifth place winners.
For the 21st annual ProStart Cup, Greene said he is hoping that his team takes first place in the culinary competition. The first-place team
will represent California in the National ProStart Student Invitational in Washington D.C.
The competition will be hosted at the Long Beach Convention Center on March 7 and 8 at 8 a.m. both days. The event is open to the public and free to attend.
Greene participated in the ProStart Cup last year as well. He said he joined the team because he thought he could “bring a lot to the table” and was encouraged by his culinary teacher at Bonita High, Laurie Brandler.
“Last year I learned that it's a lot of work and pressure and it's a lot of really knowing your craft,” he said. “I think overall it made me a better chef and more confident in my abilities. It made me learn to really trust my teammates and not to only rely on myself because you can't do it on your own.”
There are four competitions within the ProStart Cup. One of the two team competitions is culinary which is creating a threecourse meal — starter, entree, and dessert — in one hour on two butane burners. Students have to demonstrate their knife skills, and are judged on their presentation, communication, teamwork and safety and sanitation practices, said Harshfield.
The second team competition is management, during which students take on the role of entrepreneurs and pitch a business proposal for a new restaurant concept to a panel of judges made up of restaurant and food executives. Students come up with a logo, name, menu, and story behind the concept.
“It's about exposing students to a whole other side of operations, business development and marketing,” Harshfield said. “It expands their horizons about all the careers that there are in food service and hospitality.”
The individual competitions are more lighthearted and fun, Harshfield said. During the Wienerschnitzel Dress Your Dog contest, students make a topping for a hot dog and the Idaho Loaded Potato Competition inspires toppings for a baked spud.
Students also have the opportunity to network and meet with college and university representatives during the Career & College Expo.
“I think I just loved meeting all of the industry executives and other people in the industry because that's something that I want to do and I kind of envision myself as being one of them in the future,” Greene said about attending the expo last year.
Greene said that he never thought he would find a career in culinary arts but that ProStart Cup has shown him the different opportunities there are in the industry. He will be attending Cal Poly Pomona's Collins College of Hospitality Management in the fall, majoring in hospitality and a minor in culinology — a combination of food science and culinary arts. He hopes to one day open his own catering business.
“Our biggest thrill about this event is giving students a chance to know what they're made of,” said Harshfield.
“It's a rigorous competition, they work really hard to get there,” she said, “but the sense of accomplishment and the confidence that they gain from doing this event is so transformative and it really is a propeller, it fuels students to the next level.”