ProStart

Meet these talented teen chefs at the 2018 Small Town Chefs Dinner in Baton Rouge on June 28.

Teenagers I know—and the teenager I was eleven years ago—define a meal as an entrée and two sides your mother whipped up in “I dunno, five minutes” or, if left to their own devices (which here can also mean “smartphones”), a hot, greasy bag often obtained through a drive-thru window or delivered by a Waitr.

But for the five-member competition team of Hammond High Magnet School’s ProStart program, a two-year curriculum running juniors and seniors through the rigors of the restaurant and foodservice industry, a meal is … 

“A quail egg yolk ravioli, with two different types of ricotta; sautéed mushrooms and shallots with white wine for the filling; plus a sage beurre blanc, pickled shallots, and red wine gastrique with some crispy bacon on top,” said Khloe Chen, of the appetizer she delicately prepared with from-scratch pasta for the National ProStart Invitational on April 27–29, 2018.

“Habanero- and tamarind-glazed baby back ribs with a purple sweet potato puree, an apple fennel slaw, and a horseradish tamarind sauce,” said Andrew Cambre, of the team’s entrée.

And for dessert? “White chocolate Bavarian cream, lemon sorbet, blackberry coulis, and a mixed-nut nougatine,” said Sara Baiamonte, along with Andrew one of the team’s two just-graduated seniors; they’ll both attend the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University on scholarship this fall.

A master chef isn’t made by palate alone; key to any lasting success in the kitchen is the ability to achieve laudable results in high-pressure situations. The National ProStart Invitational, where the Hammond team placed twenty-first out of forty-six teams from throughout the country, did not disappoint in this regard.

[Read this: Chef Jeremy Langlois got his start as a sixteen-year-old dishwasher at John Folse's White Oak Plantation.]

“We had an hour to make a three-course meal in a ten-by-ten square with two tabletop burners, no running water, no electricity, and no refrigeration,” said Cade Kershenstine. Khloe chalks the team’s success up to “ice chests and timing.” “Trenten [Oliphant] timed everything,” said Khloe. Another example of Trenten’s analytical approach to the plate: he takes the scraps of each meal he eats and creates a new dish. “Like your deconstructed Big Mac,” laughed Khloe.

Mentors like Savannah Hall, a recent Louisiana Culinary Institute graduate, and Chef Horst Pfeifer, of Middendorf’s Restaurant in Manchac, advised the team during preparations for the national competition. “Chef Pfeifer got really into it,” said program instructor Angie Drago. “He’d show up to each practice with a new little gadget he had or something he’d created to help Sara make that Bavarian work.” Other tricks and techniques include a pressure-cooker, “to make the ribs fork-tender in under twenty minutes,” said Andrew, and dry ice for a quick sorbet. “We called it our five-dollar sorbet, because each time we’d practice, one scoop of dry ice would cost us five dollars,” said Angie.

[You'll like: Cooking the Books—For the right student, the Louisiana Culinary Institute has it all.]

The invitational is just one aspect of the ProStart culinary curriculum. (These five students auditioned for the competition team then won the Louisiana invitational to qualify for nationals.) Designed by the National Restaurant Educational Foundation along with industry members, educators, and state restaurant associations including the Louisiana Restaurant Association, ProStart spends time in both the textbook and the test kitchen. Less-than-serious students are shaken loose quickly, particularly when the class spends two weeks on sanitation in the kitchen.

“I wanted to take ‘the cooking class,’” said Andrew, who logged hours in the kitchen of the now-closed Geaux-2 Café in Robert, Louisiana, before he ever embarked on the ProStart program, “but it’s more than that. There’s cooking, but really we’re learning the culinary and the management part of the restaurant industry. If you’re going to go in the industry, I’d recommend doing both job and culinary program where you actually learn the basics. You have both, not just one or the other.”

“One thing about this program that I think is important is it’s an opportunity for students to decide if it’s indeed what they want to do,” said Angie. A life in the kitchen was foreseen for at least a few of these chefs: Cade, Khloe, and Sara all have parents who own or have owned culinary enterprises. Andrew’s summer job at the Geaux-2 Café quickly turned into him holding the reins of the whole kitchen. But Trenten saw himself as an architect, a real estate agent, or a stockbroker before enrolling in ProStart. “But I always liked to cook at home,” he said, “and now I’m a lot better at it.”

ProStart students are required to pass two national exams and complete 400 industry hours over two years. Some of that experience will come on June 28, when these five teenage chefs join Country Roads for the fifth annual Small Town Chefs Dinner at the Louisiana Culinary Institute. The Hammond ProStart students will partner with LCI students to help create passed hors d’oeuvres for the dinner that will complement each Small Town Chef’s cuisine.

Do they hope all this toil will land them in the elite class of celebrity chefs? Like their individual strengths in culinary competition, the team’s imagined futures differ too. “I want to be someone like Grant Achatz. He’s a celebrity chef but he’s known for his restaurant group,” said Trenten.

“I want to own my own restaurant—maybe be a local celebrity,” said Khloe. “People know about you and know about your food; you’re not just on TV.”

“I don’t think I’d want to be because people are always watching, and you have to keep up an appearance 24/7,” said Cade.

“I want to be in New Orleans, and I’d like to be at least known,” said Sara. “I want to be a personal chef. I want them to somewhat know about me—but not know everything.”

“Personally, no,” said Andrew. “I just want to make food for people.”  

Meet these talented teen chefs at the 2018 Small Town Chefs Dinner in Baton Rouge on June 28.

Follow along with the Hammond High Magnet School ProStart program at facebook.com/HHMSProStart. 

Learn more about ProStart at chooserestaurants.org.