Top Chefs

Two student teams from the Guthrie Center’s Culinary Arts program have qualified for state competition March 20-21 in Waco. The students competed last month in the annual Pro Start Regional Culinary competition held at the Humble Civic Center. Contest sponsor was the Texas Restaurant Association.

The Guthrie Center’s Management Team placed second in February regional competition. Students took third place in the Culinary Team competition. All teams felt like winners, however, as every student left the Civic Center with $4,500 in scholarship awards. They can win more scholarships later this month in Waco, too.

The Culinary Team includes the following students: Gilda Cortez and Alex Snook, both seniors at Northbrook High; Kelsey Long, a senior at Memorial High; and Breion Bracks and Makik Bishop, both of Stratford High.

The three-student Management Team includes Xavier Hawthorne, a Stratford High sophomore, and Westchester Academy for International Studies sophomore Eunice Badillo and senior Alexandrea Arriazola.

Culinary Arts instructors are Jennifer Cadengo, Erin Land and Jennifer Cardenas.

The management competition is conceptual. Students must create a restaurant concept and then present it as if they were pitching the idea to investors.  The students worked with the architectural design program at the Guthrie Center to create a 3D rendering of a restaurant.

“This project is extensive including a written proposal, verbal presentation, visual display and critical thinking scenarios,” Jennifer Cadengo said.

In the culinary competition, Guthrie students are judged on knife skills, poultry fabrication, and pricing, or costing, menus. In addition, the students created a three-course meal on two butane burners and work tables that are 8 feet long.

“The Guthrie Center has never participated in this competition. We were very pleased to have placed so high, especially considering the tough competition throughout the state,” Cadengo adds.

A fund-raising dinner was held, and enough $30 dinner tickets were sold to send every student to state competition in Waco. At the dinner, the culinary student team prepared six separate plates in the middle of the dining room to demonstrate their project.

Students also toured the University of Houston’s top ranking management program and visited local restaurants like Haven to observe and develop concepts that they wanted to develop.

In Waco later this month, students will compete for scholarships to top culinary and restaurant management programs.