30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 5, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Sizzling from a pan and the staccato tapping of a knife against a cutting board break the silence at Pacific Grove High School on a Friday afternoon. Most students are enjoying February break, but the school is not empty. A group of five students dressed in chef’s whites are working against the clock to prepare a fullcourse meal—appetizer, entree and dessert. To add to the pressure, they have one hour to finish, using only two burners. One student keeps track of their progress with several color-coded alarm clocks and a checklist. “Forty minutes!” she shouts. “Thank you, chef!,” the student cooks respond, all while focused on their task at hand. The team is preparing to compete in Los Angeles in the 2025 California ProStart Cup, held on Feb. 24 and 25, a culinary and restaurant entrepreneurship competition for high school students. Three groups from PGHS— two in the culinary category and one in restaurant entrepreneurship—will go up against 34 culinary and 12 management teams from around the state. The winners will represent California in the National ProStart Student Invitational in Baltimore. “It is a huge commitment,” says Imogen Erickson, PGHS’s culinary arts instructor. Students must manage their time inside and outside the kitchen. They have different schedules, and several are also involved in sports, clubs or work part-time after school. The culinary career technical education pathway at PGHS uses a curriculum from the National Restaurant Association Foundation and California Restaurant Foundation that follows ProStart, an industry-backed management and culinary program for teens. “It really gives students very comprehensive training and experience in what it would be like to work in the world of food service and hospitality,” Erickson points out. The students have been preparing since the beginning of the school year. They chose a theme, tested different recipes, created menus or a business plan. The menus are ambitious. The Red Team’s theme, “Soigne of the South,” is inspired by Southern cuisine. It includes shrimp and grits with blackened jumbo prawns and cheesy grits, cornmeal crepes filled with catfish, crawfish in a creamy vermouth mornay sauce and banana pudding. Robbie Meek, the culinary manager of the Red Team, says it took them several months to refine their entree. “Our catfish has gone through so many iterations,” Meek says—frying, poaching, pan-seared. Meek uses 11 different timers with different tags and colors to track tasks. The entire time, the students maneuver around with the cutting board, pans or other utensils. The Gold Team has a Mexicaninspired theme. One of the cooks, Matias De La Garza, is from Mexico. For the De La Garza mole, traditionally prepared with chicken and a taste of home and family reunions, he wanted to take it a step further. “I definitely wanted to go out of my comfort zone,” he says, noting they wanted to make it more fine dining while keeping the sense of home. The mole has chipotle, lending a smoky flavor. Throughout each dish, there is a citrus sensation. The menu includes a scallop ceviche, rack of lamb with an avocado-mint crema and quinoa salad, with pastel de tres leches cake for dessert—the latter allowed to caramelize on the bottom. “It is a really nice crunch that kind of contrasts with the cake being moist,” says Gold Team member Caitlyn Botes. A few students are competition veterans (they can participate twice). One is Destiny Craft, an aspiring pastry chef. She says trusting others was crucial the last time. “With this team competition and with the time being so strict, I have to let people do things for me,” Craft says. The management team put together a food truck business plan from scratch called Cruisin’ Coffee Co., inspired by Chicano/Mexican American culture. “I wanted to pay tribute to my father’s and my mother’s culture,” says Zac Fernandez. The plan includes several coffee beverages, as well as Mexican pastries, conchas and churros. It details operation hours, the target market, marketing concepts, design and more. FIRST COURSE Matias De La Garza, a member of the Gold Team, plates the group’s lamb entree in a practice run on Friday, Feb. 21 before a competition in Los Angeles. SAFETY FIRST…In the wake of fires at the Vistra battery facility in Moss Landing, owner Kim Solano has decided to close The Haute Enchilada, at least temporarily. CAFFEINE BUZZ…Popular coffee spot The Beerded Bean has closed its Carmel Valley outpost. The original location in downtown Salinas (210 S. Main St.) remains open—and busy. GREEN EGGS AND PAELLA…Chef Todd Fisher is hosting more cooking classes at The Meatery, this time featuring The Big Green Egg. If you know what that is, you can learn how to make paella on Saturday, March 1 from 2-4pm. $75. 1534 Fremont Blvd., Seaside. 6568810, themeateryseaside.com. TAKE IT EASY…It’s Mardi Gras time, but you don’t need to go to New Orleans to celebrate. Bon Ton L’Roy’s Lighthouse Smokehouse gets the party started Saturday, March 1 at 7pm with gumbo, jambalaya and po’boys, as well as live music. No cover. 794 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey. 375-6958. WINE AND DINE…Sip and celebrate women in wine at Lucia Restaurant & Bar’s four-course dinner on Friday, March 7 at 6pm. Each course is paired with wines from Matanzas Creek Winery. $225. 415 W. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley. 658-3595, bernarduslodge.com. GREEN VALLEY…The Artichoke Festival returns June 14-15 at the Monterey County Sheriff’s Posse Grounds in Salinas. Tickets are available online now at a discount: $15; $10/ seniors, military; free/14 and under (with ticketed adult). The price goes up after May 15. artichokefestival.org. ROUND ABOUT…Danny’s Donut Shop is open daily from 6am-5pm and is dishing out fresh donuts twice a day—once upon opening and a second fresh batch comes on the scene at 2pm. 1365 N. Davis Road, Salinas. 975-5529, instagram.com/dannysdonutshop. A BIG DILL…Freckles Pickles is adding to its list of locations. You can now find their full line of flavored pickles at Farm Fresh Produce at 8850 Highway 1, Moss Landing. BLUE NOTES…A new wine tasting room is opening soon. The Blue Fox Cellars location will feature paninis and small bites in addition to fine wines. It will fill the old Pierce Ranch Vineyards spot at 499 Wave St. in Monterey. By Jacqueline Weixel MORSELS eatanddrink@montereycountynow.com “I definitely wanted to go out of my comfort zone.” EAT + DRINK CELIA JIMÉNEZ Test Kitchen High school students from Pacific Grove prepare for a national culinary competition. By Celia Jiménez
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==