Kendall to host 9th Annual Illinois ProStart Invitational

On Jan. 16 Kendall College's School of Culinary Arts in Chicago will host 16 teams of high school students from across the state in the 9th Annual Illinois ProStart Student Invitational. The teams will participate in a full day of culinary and restaurant management competition, hosted by the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (IRAEF) and sponsored by Sysco Foodservice-Chicago.

Students will compete in two events: a culinary competition and restaurant management competition. In the culinary competition, students will have 120 minutes to prepare two identical portions of a three-course meal consisting of a starter, entrée and dessert. Students will be judged on knife skills, method and technique, sanitation and safety, professionalism, presentation, recipe costing, organization and teamwork. In the management competition, teams will analyze a management situation and answer foodservice, hospitality and business-focused questions covered in the ProStart curriculum. The case study requires students to analyze the real-life situations using knowledge and communication skills from the management perspective.

The winning teams from each event will be awarded scholarships to pursue post-secondary education in foodservice and restaurant management, the chance to compete in the National ProStart Invitational taking place April 30 to May 2 in Overland Park, Kan., and additional prizes. For more information, visit www.prostart.restaurant.org.