Each year, the Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation (LRAEF) hosts teams across the state in its annual ProStart Student
Invitational. This year, 27 teams took part in either the Culinary Competition
or the Management Competition. For some
schools, this was the first time they made the trip to New Orleans for the
two-day events. This was the second of a multi-year relationship with
the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board, the competition’s title sponsor, and was represented by
Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne, who addressed the students, teachers and parents
during the awards ceremony. Teams in both competitions had to
incorporate Louisiana seafood into their menus.
For Fontainebleau’s ProStart instructor Stacy Russell, this
is the first time she prepared students for competition. She came to Fontainebleau
after 15 years in the restaurant industry, having worked for the Taste Buds restaurant
group, whose concepts include Zea Rotisserie & Grill, Semolina Restaurant
and Mizado Cocina.
“Teaching the ProStart students in the classroom takes the
same management techniques as those I used every day in a restaurant,” Russell
said. “The great thing about coming into this position is I can give them a
real world account of restaurant operations.”
Preparing for the culinary competition takes mentoring and
practice. Matt Jones, a graduate from American Institute, and currently with
the Besh Restaurant Group, consulted with the Fontainebleau team on their menu.
Some items didn’t make the cut with the students.
“Early on the students were considering seared redfish and
smoked tuna,” Russell added. “The team finally settled on pepper seared tuna
steak, a pan seared duck breast and panna cotta for their three courses.”
“We practiced twice a week for three hours over the course
of six weeks to perfect our organization, communications and time management,”
said Brianna Alongi, Fontainebleau ProStart II student. “This process really
forces us to work as a team and that is such a valuable experience.”
During the Culinary competition, judges monitor and score
the team’s organization and teamwork, time management and safety and
sanitation. Barry Blue, a retired registered sanitarian with 30 years of
experience, carefully reviews all aspects of the team’s dishes and has
participated as a judge for several years.
“Personal hygiene, cross contamination and sanitation are
the three main areas I’m looking at when judging,” Blue said. “These teams are
highly trained in these areas as ServSafe methods and techniques are used in
their coursework and preparation.”
Lakeshore’s winning menu included a crab stuffed avocado
served over a bed of arugula, topped with a tangy vinaigrette, which wowed the
judges.
“This is a beautiful technique, perfectly executed and the
amount of crabmeat inside was just perfect,” said Randy Cheramie, Executive
Director at the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls.
Lakeshore Culinary team
was led by instructor Judy Achary and students Matthew Bertucci,
Yenifer Fuentes, Alma Hagans, Hunter Trahan and alternate, Tatiana Joseph. The
second place team was West Feliciana High School in St. Francisville, led by
instructor Amy Dreher and students Elizabeth Ritchie-Fudge, Zachary Lester,
Amanda Mangham and Ian Moreau. The third place team was Ascension Parish-
Dutchtown High School in Geismar, led by instructor Traci Martin and students Haley
Thompson, Kyong Soo Han, Tyler Moore, Kathryn Sappe and alternate, Autumn Lee.
This year, to recognize the various teams beyond just the
top three teams, the judges picked teams that stood out above the rest in the
following areas to receive awards: Knife Skills: Hammond High Magnet School;
Safety & Sanitation: Slidell High School; Judges’ Pick- Appetizer: West
Feliciana High School, with a fried softshell crab, tomato confit and arugula
sandwich, with fried capers and cornichon mustard; Judges’ Pick-Entrée: Salmen
High School, with a prepared seared Louisiana Gulf trout, with sautéed green
beans and a root vegetable hash, topped with a classic Meuniere sauce; and
Judges’ Pick-Dessert: Mandeville High School with a New Orleans bread pudding
layered with vanilla-poached Louisiana strawberries, blueberries and
blackberries, finished with freshly whipped cream.
The courses chosen by the judges will be interpreted and
served to the guests at the LRAEF’s annual Five Star Future Gala, Saturday,
August 2, 2014 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
On day two, the competition switches gears from the culinary
aspect of the restaurant business to the management side. Participating teams
in the Management Competition demonstrated their knowledge of the restaurant and
foodservice industry by developing a new restaurant concept proposal, creating
a visual display, delivering a verbal presentation to a panel of judges and
applying critical thinking skills to challenges managers face in day-to-day
operations.
“The culinary side of the business gets more recognition in
mainstream media, no doubt,” said Phil de Gruy of Phil’s Grill in Metairie and
New Orleans. “The management side, creating concepts and developing menus, has
always been more exciting for me. Seeing the concepts the ProStart Management
teams come up with is always impressive.”
Take 2, a family restaurant, serving American cuisine
inspired by some of America’s favorite movies, by Hammond High Magnet School,
took first place in the Management Competition. Paying homage to Louisiana as
“Hollywood South,” incorporates movie themes into the design of the restaurant
as part dining room, part movie theater and special menus.
The winner of the Management Competition was Hammond High Magnet School, led
by instructor Angie Drago and students Todreion Amos, Sarah Davis, Courtney
Edwards, Julia Lassalle and alternate, Jemario Rheams. The second place team
was North Vermilion High School in Maurice, led by instructor Phyllis Bonhagen
and students Sydney Thibodeaux, Lane Broussard, Jessica Doiron, Jamie Montet
and Lindsey Morris. The third place team was Rayne High School, led by
instructor Kandice Dequeant and students Phillip Broussard, Alyssa Billings and
Natalie Breaux.
Hammond High Magnet School’s ProStart team also represented Louisiana at the National ProStart Competition, May 3-5, 2014 in
Minneapolis.
The judge’s also picked their standouts in the Management
Competition. The Judges’ Award for Restaurant Concept when to Donaldsonville
High School, with a double decker restaurant tour bus; Judges’ Award for
Critical Thinking: Slidell High School; Judges’ Award for Visual Display:
Sulphur High School; and the Judges’ Award for Verbal Presentation:
Fontainebleau High School.
The top three teams in the Culinary and Management
competitions collectively received more than $1.2 million in scholarship
opportunities to the nation’s leading institutions, such as Culinary Institute
of America, Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Johnson & Wales and Le
Cordon Bleu, among others.
“It’s clear by amount of scholarship dollars awarded by such
high caliber culinary schools, that Louisiana and our ProStart program is
highly regarded in the world of cuisine,” said Stan Harris, LRA President/CEO.
“We are so often told that our Louisiana students understand how to use fresh
Louisiana seafood and how to use seasoning to layer flavors and that is a
tremendous compliment.”
Educators are the key to the ProStart programs success in
Louisiana. With roughly half of them coming from industry and the other half
education, what they do to prepare these students, not only for competition,
but for jobs and ultimately careers in the industry is truly remarkable.
“To see the camaraderie among the ProStart teachers in
Louisiana is really great,” said Greg Beachey, National ProStart Program
Manager. “They are so happy to see each other, share experiences and
collaborate and that’s evident in the students’ performance in the
competition.”
The LRAEF hosts two ProStart Teacher training events
annually—one in the summer and one during the winter break. The training events
are intensive with workshops designed to further educate the teachers on
culinary techniques from notable Louisiana chefs. In turn, the teachers can
better prepare their students. Nearly all of the teachers participate in both.
“Just as important as having great ProStart teachers, is
having the LRAEF team and our members working diligently to support the
program, through additional education, member engagement, fundraising efforts
and sponsorships,” added Harris.
The 2014 LRAEF Louisiana Seafood ProStart Student
Invitational Sponsors include:
Louisiana Seafood, Acme Oyster House, Auto-Chlor Services, Louisiana
Hospitality Foundation, Performance Foodservice Caro, Atmos Energy, Louisiana
Culinary Institute, Drago’s Seafood Restaurant, New Orleans Wine and Food
Experience, Raising Cane’s, Louisiana Gas Association, Whole Foods, Entergy,
Chef Paul Prudhomme’s “Sea of Hope,” Centerplate, Coca-Cola, Community Coffee,
Custom Apparel, Ecolab, Freeman Decorating, Generations Hall and the New
Orleans Morial Convention Center.
ProStart is a two-year comprehensive culinary management
course for juniors and seniors in high school with two primary outcomes: to
prepare students for higher education and to train students to go directly to
work in Louisiana’s foodservice industry. The LRAEF pairs ProStart students and
LRA members together in a mutually-beneficial relationship. Students are
required to complete a 400-hour work internship, thus providing hands-on
training. Many of LRA members serve as mentors to ProStart students.
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