ProStart team sweeps state contest

The H-D/CAL ProStart team made a big impression at the ProStart Invitational contest in Des Moines on Tuesday, March 1.

The culinary club spent months practicing and preparing for the contest where teams of students from across the state showed off their cooking ability and restaurant management ideas.

"It was a great day," said Jane Hoegh, who teaches the ProStart group.

On the cooking side of the contest, the team had been preparing for the event since November, finalizing their menu and practicing their recipes for the big event. Each member made their course dozens of times, working out what worked and what needed to be changed.

When the big day came at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines, the team of five was set loose in the kitchen to prepare their meal before the judges, who watched them not just for their final product, but for how they worked together in the kitchen. The team had 60 minutes to prepare everything and present it to the judges.

Each member of the team was in charge of a specific dish for the meal.

Tiffany Howrey started things off with a Four Cheese Ravioli topped with a creamy Vodka Sauce and served with Arugula Greens and Parmesan Vinaigrette.

For the main course, Payton McNealy cooked up an Italian Herb and Cheese stuffed Beef Roulade served with a red wine sauce. On the side, Lauren Kurth prepared Garlic Broccolini with Rosemary Focaccia and Crispy Parsnips with Fried Lemon Potato.

Finishing things off with desert, Paige Magner wowed the judges with her creativity and ingenuity by crafting a domed Tiramisu.

While each cook was responsible for their own food, they also worked in tandem, helping each other with mixing and replacing cooking fuel while under the clock.

"We start off with our initial thing and then we all go help each other," said Howrey.

"We had to make this entire three course meal without electricity in under 60 minutes," said Magner.

With Will Sackville serving as expeditor, keeping everybody organized and on time, the team made every second count, right up to the point where the gold dust for the tiramisu was being sprinkled on in transit as Manger delivered it to the judges table.

Coming in just under the wire, the team was happy with their performance and confident in their results, noting that the judges made a point to mention how minor their criticisms of their performance were.

"As we were progressing, I could tell we were getting everything spot on," said Heogh.

"I had a good feeling we would win," said Howrey.

"There were like no complaints," said Kurth.

The team's intuition was correct. After waiting for the judges to get through the remaining entries, Hampton-Dumont was named winner of the culinary contest.

The day didn't end there though.

Along with the culinary contest was the management contest where Howrey joined Carli Franke and Anthony Correnti in presenting a business plan for a fictional restaurant.

"You basically make the whole restaurant except for building the building," said Correnti.

"WildFire Waffles" is a hypothetical food trailer that serves up a variety of Belgain waffles to Gen Zers at targeted locations. The management team accounted for every detail they would need to know for the business, from the layout of their trailer to the cost of equipment and supplies to a marketing plan and rewards program. The team even created a backstory for the fictional owners of the waffle trailer, detailing how a retired firefighter decided to honor the memory of his Belgain grandmother by serving up a menu of sweet and savory waffles with a variety of toppings.

The team presented their pitch to the judges as though they were potential investors and react to their questions as the judges tested them with how their business would respond to various scenarios.

"It was pretty intimidating sitting there," said Franke.

Once again, following feedback from the judges, the team waited for their results. With only three contestants in the category, they knew very quickly how they placed and that their hard worked had paid off.

"We started bawling," said Howrey.

The management team also won their contest, meaning that Hampton-Dumont swept the event.

"We were all crying," said student-teacher Grace Shreckengost. "It was probably the most proud I've ever been."

As the champions of the state ProStart contest, the teams are now looking forward to moving on to the national stage. Their victories at the state level qualify them to compete at the national competition in Washington D.C. on May 6-8.

Until then, the group will be fundraising for the trip and making tweaks and improvements to their menus and plans in preparation to compete with other teams from across the country.

"I'm just super proud of their hard work," said Hoegh.