Davies students excel at ProStart state culinary competitions

LINCOLN – As the van carrying Davies Tech juniors Adrianny Jimenez and Kenadee Houle drew closer to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick for the 13th annual ProStart/R.I. High School Culinary Arts, Foodservice & Hotel/Restaurant Management Competition on Tuesday morning, Feb. 25, the more panicky they became.

“We were heading down there and we were practicing what we had to say and do; we were terrible,” said Jimenez, who would be teaming with Houle to excel in the Restaurant Management division of the competition. “We looked at each other and said, ‘They’re going to laugh us out of the building.’ It was nerve-wracking.

“We were so worried.” Jimenez, who hails from Pawtucket, and Houle, from North Providence, admit they have no idea how they did it, but they actually captured

first in the Restaurant Management competition, earning more points than five other competitors across Rhode Island.

They included Chariho Tech, Shea High School, the Exeter Job Corps Academy, Newport Area Career & Technical Center and the Warwick Area Career & Technical Center.

Amazingly, they weren’t alone, as the Culinary Arts squad of senior Bobbi Calder of Central Falls and juniors Aliyah Dantzler of Pawtucket and Abby Grullon of Johnston reigned in its category. That meant the Patriots had snared two out of the three events at the prestigious competition, one hosted by the R.I. Hospitality Education Foundation.

It gets better: Each individual not only earned an $8,000 scholarship to help further their education in the hospitality field, but they also qualified to represent Rhode Island at the National Pro-Start Invitational Competition in Baltimore between May 2-4.

In their competition, Jimenez and Houle needed to build an entire restaurant concept from the ground up, and their proposal included concept development, floor plan and décor, organizational chart, marketing and branding and a menu and costing.

They presented their plan to 15-plus judges in six back-to-back presentations, then had to answer critical-thinking questions to defend their collective vision.

“Once we got in there and started answering questions, we were doing pretty well,” Jimenez said. “In between each of those segments, we’d get like a five-minute break to regroup, and Kenadee and I would look at each other and say, ‘This is much better than our practice in the van!’

“Once we finished, we felt sort of a mix of emotions,” she added. “One was, like, ‘Oh, good, we’re finally done,’ but then we were stressing out about the feedback we were going to receive. We were the last school to go before the judges, so while we were waiting, we were so stressed out we thought we were going to pass out.

“When we walked in, the judges were all smiles and they were telling us how well we did. Kenadee and I looked at each other and were thinking, ‘What? Really?’ Someone even commented about how well we did considering we were so young, and that we were brilliant, and that came from the chief marketing officer for the state of Rhode Island.

“We were shocked but thrilled.”

Unfortunately, the waiting wasn’t over. It took about 30 minutes for the judges to begin announcing the top three placements in their category.

“After the third – and second-place winners were announced, Kenadee got completely upset; she said, ‘We must have gotten fourth,’” Jimenez said with a laugh. “Then they said our school name for first place and she jumped out of her chair. We both started screaming, then we went on stage and received our medals.

“It was thrilling.” Chef Sara Lingwell had taken the reins of the Restaurant Management team and hoped for the best, but admitted she knew a triumph would be hard to come by given the strengths of the other squads.

“This was the first time that I’ve had a team compete in this category, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect,” she stated. “We read the rulebooks and just tried to follow what the competition rules were asking for. The kids had to do six fiveto-seven minute presentations in front of the judges and defend their concepts. Their mission was to create a restaurant from the bottom up.”

She indicated the students had started assembling the project back in September, and then kicked everything into high gear just after Christmas.

“It was fun, but it definitely took a lot of work,” she continued. “This all ties into our curriculum and what we want the kids to know and understand. It does a deep dive into some critical thinking of what makes a good business proposal, and it helps them understand why.

“Still, the kids blew my mind; I was really impressed with my students. When you work so closely with these kids, you see the good, the bad and more. I was only allowed to watch certain parts of their project presentation, but I was allowed into the judges’ feedback. They gave such great feedback, and it’s so nice to hear from the pros in the industry how great my students are.

“It was so rewarding, and I’m so proud.”

Jimenez and Houle discovered after their win that their schoolmates weren’t quite through with their presentation, so they went to watch Calder, Dantzler and Grullon prepare a threecourse meal in exactly one hour, meaning they had to bring their menu to life – in front of judges.

According to Calder, their appetizer consisted of pan-seared ginger shrimp and a rainbow, micro-grain salad with julienne red onion, diced green apples and ginger cream, while their entrée was a rosemary lemon pan-roasted lamb chop with fondant potato, a beets and asparagus medley and a lemon thyme cream sauce.

As for dessert, that was one of Calder’s specialties – chocolate pomegranate mousse with a chocolate cake Chantilly cream.

“We practiced and practiced; we were working on that menu and the speed in which we had to complete it at least three or four times a week,” Dantzler said. “As the competition got closer, we practiced more.

“Once we were done, we were hopeful we’d win, and we were really excited when we found out, but I can’t say I was surprised because we had worked so hard for it. We spent a ton of time preparing for it.”

Added Calder: “I felt the same way; I mean, I didn’t know we were going to win, but the way we worked together, we were flawless. Our team balance was to a ‘T.’ Whether it was at practice or in the competition, we’d often finish each other’s sentences.

“As I started with four other seniors, I was the only one to fully commit to this competition. As sad as I was in the moment about not competing with friends, I’m so glad I developed a new and close bond with my teammates and stuck through it to the end.”

Dantzler also explained that the trio was the smallest squad in attendance, as a team could have five students in all.

“That worked out in our favor because of the lack of space,” she said. “We were told by Chef Santos Nieves, our advisor, to ‘eat, sleep and breathe this competition,’ and that’s exactly what we did.”

Davies’ success at the state level assures its place among the nation’s top culinary and hospitality professionals. The National ProStart Invitational, which is organized by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, will bring together in Baltimore elite high school teams from across the country to compete for scholarships and national recognition.

“We are beyond proud of our students for their dedication, creativity and hard work,” said Davies Career Coordinator Kathryn Dacier. “These victories are a testament to their talent, the guidance of our dedicated instructors and the incredible opportunities provided by the ProStart program.

“We can’t wait to see them shine on the national stage in Baltimore.”