RI Hospitality Education Foundation Hosts 8th Annual Rhode Island ProStart® High School Culinary & Management Competition

East Providence Career & Technical Center to Represent Rhode Island in National Competition in Washington, D.C.

Posted Thursday, February 21, 2019 12:00 am

Providence, RI – February 20, 2019 - The RI Hospitality Education Foundation (RIHEF), in collaboration with ProStart®, recently hosted the 8th Annual Rhode Island ProStart® High School Culinary & Management Competition.

More than 40 area professionals judged 50 students who competed in three areas: the Culinary Arts Competition, including challenges in food safety and sanitation, knife skills, a three-course meal cook-off using only two burners, teamwork/cooperation, professionalism/appearance, and plate presentation; the Food Service Management Competition featuring the presentation of a restaurant concept and business plan including design boards, floor plans, marketing plans and menu design; and a Hospitality and Tourism Management Competition which saw students develop and present unique hotel concepts including event planning, marketing and interior design elements.

As part of the competition awards, seven different colleges and universities pledged $1 million in available scholarship money to be split up amongst the winning teams.

A food service management team from East Providence Career & Technical Center won the Food Service Management portion of the competition. The winners of the Culinary Arts and Food Service Management portions of the competition will now represent Rhode Island at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProStart® Invitational competition in Washington, D.C. May 8-10, 2019.

“I am so proud of all the hardworking students who dedicated months of practice and preparation for this event,” said Dale J. Venturini, President/CEO of the RI Hospitality Association and the RI Hospitality Education Foundation. “It’s because of students like this that Rhode Island is nationally recognized for its outstanding culinary scene. I look forward to watching the students’ skills continue to progress and eventually become part of the skilled workforce we have here in Rhode Island.”