All in a day's work

MOSES LAKE - A restaurant being considered for a big award is experiencing problems just before opening for lunch.

The display cooler holding salads is malfunctioning. A cook cuts his hand trying to find the problem. At the same time, a new supply of one the most popular items is not to arrive until halfway through lunch and the employee checking in deliveries is a cook during lunch.

Just in case lunch didn't bring enough challenges, the guests are arriving two hours earlier than scheduled for a catered dinner. Servers cannot be reached to be told they need to come in early.

What do you do?

Culinary students at Moses Lake High School are solving these kinds of problems every week in preparation for a state culinary competition.

Led by Restaurant Operations Coach Catherine McPherson and Culinary Arts Instructor Susan Moberg, the students are participating in the 2008 Boyd Coffee ProStart Invitational in Spokane March 7 and March 8.

"We've been practicing since October," McPherson said.

Students are proving to judges their know-how in restaurant management is superior to 20 other Washington schools.

Many students involved with the culinary arts program and competition are interested in food as more than a hobby.

Team captain and high school senior KayCee Coker, 18, has been in the culinary arts program during the span of her high school career.

"I wanted to be in (the competition) because I'd like to own my own restaurant someday," Coker said.

Senior Stephanie Jacobs, 17, has similar aspirations.

"I've always wanted to own my own restaurant. Like since I could walk, I've wanted to cook and have my own show on the Food Network," Jacobs said.

Junior Kayla Scott, 17, makes wedding cakes at Memories R Forever in Moses Lake and hopes to someday open her own bakery.

Scott said one of the benefits of participating in the ProStart Invitational is the ability to win money for college. Competing last year, Scott won a total $12,000 in scholarships to different colleges.

"That's one of the reasons we're also doing it, because you get a lot of scholarships for it as well," Scott said.

Coker said she made $30,000 in scholarships to various schools from competitions during her sophomore and junior years.

The restaurant management competition in the ProStart Invitational consists of a knowledge bowl and case study, McPherson said.

Moses Lake High School students earned first place last year in the case study portion and sixth in the knowledge bowl portion of the competition, Moberg said.

"These guys get along really well, which is really essential because they have to work as a team," Moberg said.

Last year, the students competed in the hot foods portion of the invitational in addition to restaurant management.

Coker, Scott and other students prepared a three-course meal with only two butane burners as a heat source. Courses included a duck, apple, radish salad with wasabi mayonnaise, beef tenderloin with wilted baby spinach and organic potatoes, and chocolate fritters with cherry mousse and a bubble-sugar garnish.

Moberg said the school typically competes in hot foods every other year. It is challenging getting all the students together for practice, and having students see the culinary arts competition before participating is helpful, she said.

"I think it's really helpful for students interested in hot foods to see how it's run," she said.

Coker described the 2007 competition as stressful, since students participated in both hot foods and restaurant management.

"It was an adrenaline rush," she said.

This year she feels more prepared, and each year seems to be a little easier, she said.

"I hope I can help all the new people on the team with especially the case study portion of the competition," Coker said.

McPherson said each team receives a scenario for the case study portion of the competition and has to work it out to the best of their ability. They present their solution to a panel of judges.

To prepare for the case study, students practice after school solving scenarios as a team. Competition practice is three days per week, for 1.5 to two hours.

McPherson and Moberg named several example scenarios students have tackled, including power outages, lightning storms, food shortages, equipment malfunctions, liability issues, allergy issues, substance abuse problems and employee theft.

If the students win the competition, they can compete at the national level in San Diego, Calif., in April. Three years ago, students from the high school made it to nationals for their hot foods performance, Moberg said.

"This year's culinary students exhibit the finest attributes of our diverse industry," said Washington Restaurant Association President and CEO Anthony Anton. "Their expertise and celebrity style conceptions are trademarks of the annual ProStart competition."