Taos, Carlsbad students win top awards in culinary competition

Margaret O'Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·1 min read

Mar. 13—Students from Taos and Carlsbad high schools took home top awards in the New Mexico ProStart Invitational culinary and restaurant management competition, held Tuesday at Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Hosted by the Hospitality Industry Education Foundation and the New Mexico Restaurant Association, the annual competition is designed to test skills students have been practicing for months — whether they're cooking a gourmet meal or imagining a new restaurant.

Taos High's culinary team wowed judges with its three-course meal of shrimp tempura, rack of lamb and blueberry pound cake — cooked without the use of electric equipment or running water — while Carlsbad High's restaurant management team impressed with an original restaurant concept.

Both teams will be invited to attend the national competition in Baltimore in April.

Teams from Albuquerque and Cloudcroft high schools also placed among the top three in the culinary and management competitions, respectively.

Administered by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, ProStart is a career-technical education program that provides students across the country with the skills they need to be successful workers in the nation's restaurant, hospitality and food service industries.

"ProStart is developing the best and brightest talent into tomorrow's industry leaders," Tom Schuch, the New Mexico Restaurant Association's director of education and coordinator of the ProStart program in the state, said in a news release announcing the winners.

"These students have proven their mettle in the New Mexico ProStart Invitational and have the full support of the New Mexico restaurant industry as they move forward," he added.