2022 ProStart Competition

Hundreds of Florida High School Students Compete in 2022 Culinary Competition

The 21st Annual Florida ProStart Event resulted in $1,000,000 worth of scholarships 

ORLANDO – On March 5 and 6, more than 300 culinary students, representing 38 Florida high schools, gathered at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando to compete in the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Educational Foundation’s (FRLAEF) 21st Annual ProStart Culinary Team Competitions. Throughout the weekend, students competed in categories such as Culinary, Edible Centerpiece, Management, and Waiter’s Relay.

“During the school year, students train in their respective crafts, eagerly prepping for the annual state competition,” says Laura Rumer, Director of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Educational Foundation. “At the competition, they were challenged to present their restaurant skills by creating detailed culinary dishes, crafting food displays made of fruit, showcasing restaurant proposals, and setting tables in a fun game of Waiter’s Relay. The students were rock stars and brought high quality work to the table, literally.”

The last event was the Salute to Excellence dinner, where students were awarded for their respective competition categories. High school students also received scholarships from the FRLAEF and event sponsors, Johnson & Wales University, Keiser University, Culinary Institute of America, Culinary Institute of Virginia, and UCF Rosen College of Hospitality. Together, $1,000,000 worth of scholarships were awarded.

OVERALL WINNERS

1st Place – Strawberry Crest High School

2nd – Wekiva High School

3rd Place – JP Taravella High School

4th Place – Steinbrenner High School

5th Place – Hialeah High School

KEISER UNIVERSITY CULINARY COMPETITION

1st Place – Strawberry Crest High School

Instructor:        Paul Bonanno

Students:          Madison Jones, Jenna Mayo, Julian Alvarado, Eryhka Allbritton, Abigail Hemphill

2nd Place – Martin County High School

Instructor:         Shaun Southwick

Students:          Lily Tax, Paige Williams, Sophia Poirier, Georgia Poirier, Dominic Padovano

3rd Place – JP Taravella High School

Instructor:        Scott Goodman

Students:          Lexi Gonzalez, Jordan Edwy, Gabriela Franco, Eric Lin 

4th Place – John A. Ferguson High School

Instructors:       Janett Toledo, Jorge Garcia and Jebel Cordoba

Students:          Julio Gonzalez, Kayla Mejia, Andres Ramirez, Briana Font, Piero Callirgos

5th Place – Bethlehem High School

Instructor:        Chelsea Herndon

Students:          Avery Acreman, Zoie Miller, Jacob Tate, Jasmine Staggs, Journey Simpson

UCF ROSEN COLLEGE OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT COMPETITION

1st Place – Hialeah High School

Instructor:        Kathy Gonzalez

Students:          Vanessa Martinez, Maylet Perez, Jaden Sandoval, Kiana Yee 

2nd Place – Strawberry Crest High School

Instructor:        Paul Bonanno

Students:          Emily Hobbs, Katie Benson, Hayden Hott, Caitlyn Allman, Emma Langston

3rd Place – JP Taravella High School

Instructor:        Scott Goodman

Students:          Makayla Boudreau, Brian Huang 

4th Place – John A. Ferguson High School

Instructors:      Janett Toledo, Jorge Garcia, and Jebel Cordoba

Students:          Teresa Kinard, Genesis Romero, Kayla Quintero 

5th Place – Wekiva High School

Instructor:        Christopher Bates

Student:           Kaamla Bernard, Jonah Thompson, Emily Esposito

WORLD EQUESTRIAN CENTER EDIBLE CENTERPIECE COMPETITION

1st Place – Bayside High School

Instructors:       Stuart Gray, Christopher Cox

Students:          Isabel Nunez 

2nd Place – Wekiva High School

Instructor:       Christopher Bates

Student:           Judah Meyers

3rd Place – Steinbrenner High School

Instructor:       Cheryl White

Student:           Payton Miller 

4th Place – Sandalwood High School

Instructors:         Carolyn Sowell, Dionna Nelson

Students:          Emilee Hill 

5th Place – Stoneman Douglas High School

Instructosr:        Ashley Kurth, Nicholas Cochenour

Student:            Valerie Barcenas

WAITER’S RELAY

1st Place – Wekiva High School

Instructor:        Christopher Bates

Students:          Danny Ha, Josean Vargas, Derrick Ramjit

2nd Place – Steinbrenner High School

Instructor:        Cheryl White

Students:          Miranda Drake, Isabella Goldstein, Sophie Lopez

3rd Place – St. Lucie West Centennial High School

Instructor:        Calvin Lewis

Students:          Joshua Curtis, Justin Meyer, Rodolpho Segura

4th Place – Northeast High School

Instructor:       Curtis Serata

Student:           Khalid Jackson, Jacob Williams, Curtis Johnson

5th Place – Durant High School

Instructors:       Guy Hermis, Ralph Underwood

Students:          Audrey Nelson, Kate Hodnett, Gabrielle Eaton

ProStart Culinary Team Competitions Pictures and Video

Salute Photobooth #1 Pictures–Open Air Booth

Salute Photobooth #2 Pictures–Closed Booth



TEAM START TIMES

  1. CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR TEAM NUMBER

  2. USING YOUR TEAM NUMBER, CLICK ON A COMPETITION NAME BELOW TO FIND YOUR START TIME FOR EACH


21st Annual ProStart Culinary Team Competition

Saturday March 5–Sunday, March 6, 2022, Rosen Plaza Hotel, Orlando

ProStart Culinary Team Competitions

The 21st Annual ProStart Culinary Team Competitions will take place Saturday, March 5–Sunday, March 6, 2022 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando.

On Saturday, March 5, half of the Culinary Teams and Management Teams will compete along with all Edible Centerpiece teams. On Sunday, March 6, the remaining Culinary and Management teams will compete along with all of the Waiter’s Relay Teams. The competition will be followed by an awards dinner at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

STIPEND FOR COMPETING SCHOOLS   The FRLAEF will provide stipends to offset the cost of participating in the event. Participating schools will receive $250 per event in which they compete.

RULES  The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) has not released the rules for the Culinary and Management Competitions.  Since Florida’s Culinary and Management Competitions mirror the national rules, we cannot release Florida’s competition rules until NRAEF releases the national rules.  The Waiters Relay and the Edible Centerpiece competitions are unique events to Florida.

HOTEL  The Rosen Plaza Hotel will be the host site for the 2022 ProStart Culinary Team Competitions.  The room rate at the Rosen Plaza is $132 per night. To reserve hotel rooms contact the Rosen Plaza at 800-627-8258 and reference the FRLAEF ProStart Competition 2022 or by using the customized link below.  The deadline to make hotel reservations is February 16, 2022. Do not wait to book your rooms!  Please book your room now. You may always adjust your reservation as the deadline gets nearer.

MAKE ONLINE HOTEL RESERVATIONS HERE.



COMPETITION RULES

CULINARY RULES 2022

MANAGEMENT RULES 2022

EDIBLE CENTERPIECE RULES 2022

WAITERS RELAY RULES 2022

PARTICIPANT WAIVER — required for each competing student, including team managers


COMPETITION INFORMATION

LOCATION—the entire competition will take place at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. Self parking is complimentary. If you are not staying on site—just mention the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association to the parking attendant and they will waive the parking fee. Valet parking is $20 per vehicle.

MEALS—All meals are on your own (except the Salute Awards dinner, which is complimentary for competing team members and ProStart instructors). The Rosen Plaza has on-site dining and there are other restaurant options nearby. Pointe Orlando is located across the street from the hotel and offers multiple restaurant choices.

REFRIGERATION – Refrigeration will be provided onsite to store items while not competing. You may place your items in the walk-in when you arrive. Items may be stored there until you compete. Even if you arrive on Saturday and do not compete in Culinary until Sunday you can store items in the refrigerator until your competition time on Sunday.

HATS + APRONS – We will provide hats and aprons for all competing students. The Culinary and Edible Centerpiece students must wear the provided hats and aprons while competing. The Management and Waiter Relay students are not required to wear the hats or aprons while competing. These will be mailed to you before the competition.

TEMPLATES for Culinary & Management – The Recipe & Costing Templates can be found at the link above under Competition Rules.

AWARDS DINNER – The Salute to Excellence Awards Dinner will take place on Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 6:30 pm at the Rosen Plaza Hotel. All ProStart competition awards will be presented along with Hospitality Excellence Awards, Pineapple Awards and FRLAEF Scholarships. All ProStart teachers, all competing team members, Hospitality Excellence Award recipients, Pineapple Award recipients and Scholarship recipients may attend the dinner free of charge.

SCORE SHEETS – To be successful, your students must know their score sheet.  Teams do not want to “give” points away by not having a uniformed appearance, having visible piercing, incorrect math on costing template, etc. All score sheets are included with the rules of each competition and can be found at the link above.

STIPENDS – There are fewer teams competing this year but the stipend budget remains the same. Therefore, each team will receive a $400 stipend per competition. A team competing in one competition will receive $400 while a team competing in all four competitions will receive $1,600. If a team backs out of a competition after receiving their stipend, they must reimburse the FRLAEF for the stipend.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Laura can be reached at laura@FRLA.org or 321-689-7192. Amy can be reached at aparker@FRLA.org or 866-288-8820 x.250.


2020 ProStart Competition Video