Friends of Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education,
Chapter 74 High Quality Vocational Technical students throughout the state are gearing up for a culinary arts competition that could land them scholarships and a chance to compete with other young chefs across the country!!
Our terrific young chefs will come from the following schools:
Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton; Blue Hills Regional Technical High School; Cambridge Rindge & Latin; Carver Middle High School; Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in Somerset; Everett High School; Nashoba Valley Technical High School in Westford; Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in Rochester; Peabody Veterans Memorial High School; South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School in Hanover; and Taunton High School.
We wish each of them the best of luck!!!
David
Student chefs square off Feb. 27 at ProStart Student Invitational at Gillette Stadium
Seth Jacobson Wicked Local
High school students throughout the state are gearing up for a culinary arts competition that could land them scholarships and a chance to compete with other young chefs across the country. According to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation (MRAEF), the organization will host the 16th annual Massachusetts ProStart Student Invitational (MAPSI) Feb. 27 at Gillette Stadium.
"This is the fourth year the event has been held at Gillette Stadium," said MRAEF education director Jennifer Almeida. She said the previous venue for the culinary competition was the far smaller Mechanics Hall in Worcester. "Gillette Stadium was the perfect place for this," Almeida said, noting that during past competitions, New England Patriots players have stopped by to converse with the young chefs.
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<![endif]>"The students who take part in this are amazingly professional and it’s clear they love doing this," said chef Nick Calias, who oversees the general operation of the competition.
Calias is director of food and beverage at The Colonnade Hotel in Boston, where he also oversees Lucie Drink + Dine. He has been involved in the ProStart competition since 2007.
"Whatever criticism these kids get during the competition, they take it in stride," Calias said. "The kids know they are talking to professionals who are helping to give them direction."
Patriots players mingle with young chefs, serve as judges
He added that in the past, he has served as a taster, floor judge and judge-coordinator. These days, he enjoys overseeing the competition and even "getting the crowd going" as they watch students compete.
"It needs to be a positive message we are sending to these kids," Calias stressed.
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Last year, Patriots safety Devin McCourty chatted with the young chefs, many of whom attended McCourty’s retirement ceremony later that same day.
"They got to wish him well and they loved being part of that," Calias said, adding that former Patriots Matt Light and Patrick Chung are serving as judges this year.
Almeida said there are three competitions: A culinary competition, in which teams have to cook an appetizer, dinner and dessert in an hour; a hospitality management contest, where students take a shot at developing a restaurant concept, like a food truck or an airport location of a restaurant; and a cake-decorating event, where competitors have an hour to make their cake look as professional as possible.
Top three teams earn college scholarships, head to nationals
The top three teams in the hospitality management and culinary competitions receive scholarships to top culinary schools, including Johnson & Wales University, Sullivan University, New York Culinary Institute and Virginia Culinary Institute. Those two winning teams will also represent Massachusetts at the 2024 National ProStart Student Invitational on April 26-28 in Baltimore.
Almeida said cake-decorating is not a national cooking event. Almeida said other judges this year include former Boston Bruin Andrew Raycroft; chef Jay Hajj, who owns Mike’s City Diner and is a frequent celebrity guest on Food Network; Vinny Alia, a Season 2 Contestant on Fox’s "Next Level Chef" cooking show; Elle Simone Scott, executive editor at America’s Test Kitchen and founder of SheChef; WCVB-TV anchor Maria Stephanos; chef Andy Husbands, who owns The Smoke Shop BBQ; and celebrity chef Corey Hall.
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Almeida added that participating high schools include: Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton; Blue Hills Regional Technical High School; Cambridge Rindge & Latin; Carver Middle High School; Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in Somerset; Everett High School; Nashoba Valley Technical High School in Westford; Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in Rochester; Peabody Veterans Memorial High School; South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School in Hanover; and Taunton High School.
Calias looks forward to this year’s event.
"At one point in time, being a chef wasn’t so glorious," he said. "But with channels like Food Network, and shows like ‘Guy’s Grocery Games,’ being a chef has become cool to these kids. They are learning to invent and reinvent when it comes to cooking. They’re gaining confidence. And when it comes to the competition itself, I always tell them to not worry about all the crowds, and the noise. Just go out there and have fun."
Almeida stressed that the event "could not happen without our sponsors."
Those include Platinum sponsor 110 Grill; Gold level sponsors Baldor Foods, Briar Group, Horizon Beverage, Gillette Stadium, Gordon’s Food Service, Snapchef, Sysco, Trimark, Viscariello Hospitality and the U.S. Coast Guard; Silver sponsors Dole & Bailey, Exchange Street Bistro, Hospitality Insurance, Kowloon, Martignetti and Sylvan Street Grille; bronze sponsors Brown & Brown Insurance, Dexter Russell, Chefworks, Metropolitan Linen, Fiorella’s, Falvey Linen, PR Restaurants and DoorDash; and Blue Triton, HourlyWk and Flavey Linen.
.David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira
