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The District’s top high school culinary students from Frank W. Ballou, Theodore Roosevelt and Cardozo Education Campus competed in the ProStart DC Invitational on Tuesday, March 4 at the National Union Building in Northwest. While Roosevelt proved victorious for the second year in a row, the students and event highlighted the breadth of talent in the nation’s capital.

The competition was started through a partnership between District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) to develop the best of today’s talent into tomorrow’s restaurant and food service leaders through scholarships and opportunities. The winner of the competition earns a bid to represent the District at the National ProStart Invitational in Baltimore on May 2-4.

Sonya Ali, co-Owner of Ben’s Chili Bowl, has been involved with the ProStart invitational for years. This year, however, she was blown away by the creativeness of the students.

“It’s been amazing to see the young talent that comes through the D.C. school system,” she told The Informer. “Every year they step up their game.” 

This year’s showdown tested culinary and management skills.

During the culinary component, in which Ballou and Cardozo came in second and third place, students crafted a three-course meal from scratch under strict time restraints.  

Participating in his third ProStart cook-off, Mohamed Turay, a senior from Roosevelt, helped his school reach nationals last year, and came to the tournament ready for an encore performance.

“When you’re in the moment and you’re grinding, it’s all about how much effort you put into it,” he told The Informer. “Your adrenaline starts to build up and that’s when you start to see the best version of yourself.”

During the management competition, students pitched original restaurant concepts to a panel of industry professionals.

Lena Webb, a contestant in the management competition and Senior at Roosevelt, felt the experience was “very enlightening.”

“Sometimes when you go to restaurants you don’t think about or pay attention to what goes into the making of a restaurant and its foundations so it was interesting to delve deeper into that,” she said.

Road to the Competition, Judges Celebrate Young Talent

Daniel Traster, who served as lead judge and coach for all three schools, spoke of the anticipation for the event after four months of preparation from the students and himself.

“You prep them and know what they’re capable of but you don’t know the day of if it’s all going to go right,” Traster told The Informer. “So it’s a huge relief and moment of pride when it all pays off and I think they made themselves proud today.” 

Tiffany MacIssac, who served as a judge in the culinary competition, said she was “extremely impressed” by the students.

“What I was cooking when I was 14, 15, or 16 is nothing like what these kids are cooking here today,” she told The Informer.

Ali also emphasized the immense talent of each student.

“Duck breast,” Ali questioned with amazement, referencing Cardozo’s main dish. “I’m 60-something years old and I don’t cook duck breast!”