On March 3, 31 high-school students from throughout the New York metro area competed for the distinguished titles of America’s Best High School Chef and Pastry Chef in the fourth-annual competition sponsored by the Monroe College School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts in the Bronx.

The prizes were academic scholarships to attend Monroe College. First-place prize was a full academic scholarship to the Monroe College School of Hospitality Management; second- and third-place prizes were partial academic scholarships worth $3,500 and $2,500, respectively, and prizes for all competitors were partial academic scholarships worth $1,500. Monroe awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to the contestants.

Yocary Luna of Food and Finance High School in Manhattan was crowned America’s Best High School Chef for her Stuffed Chicken—Teriyaki Style with sauté of fingerling potatoes and string beans.

The executive chef of two-unit Saul Good Restaurant & Pub in Lexington, Ky., admits to learning a lot of hard lessons about how chefs and owners should get along, but he’s gotten a crash course in doing it the right way from founder Rob Perez. Chef Mayer shares some insights into why he believes “ours is not the typical owner-operator and chef relationship.”

By Jeffrey Mayer

I’m like a lot of chefs: a culinary dreamer who has a certain philosophy about the foods I want to cook. But when I first started talking to Rob about Saul Good, I saw the opportunity to work with him as a chance to learn a hell of a lot from a successful, business-savvy guy, somebody who knows how to make a whole concept work.

Mediterranean salads top the list when casual diners seek change.

A Mediterranean-style salad holds the most appeal as a new flavor for diners at casual-dining restaurants, according to a Culinary Visions™ Panel study conducted by Chicago-based Olson Communications.

“When restaurants want to add new salads they should look to the Mediterranean for inspiration,” said Sharon Olson, president of Olson Communications. “We discovered a full 60% of customers are highly likely to choose that type of salad when they have ethnic salad choices that also include Latin and Asian.”

“Artisan” on the menu used to entice diners. Not so much today. And “local” trumps “organic.” Meanwhile, overall restaurant spending is expected to grow.

Interest in where food comes from, as well as changes in restaurant spending, will both drive the foodservice rollercoaster in 2012, according to Mintel’s latest report.

“Overall, restaurant economic prospects for 2012 look positive,” says Eric Giandelone, foodservice director at Chicago-based Mintel. “In spite of the down economy, Mintel estimates that the U.S. restaurant industry will be worth $416.4 billion in 2012, showing that operators really have listened to consumer wants and needs and made appropriate changes.”

If any restaurant understands olive oil, it’s one named Extra Virgin. Here, the executive chef of the Arlington, Va., eatery extols the virtues of olive oil beyond the flavor it imparts to dishes.

Anytime is a good time to consider heart health. After all, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America, killing more than 600,000 people yearly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even making small changes in your lifestyle and diet can add up to big results, over time. One such change that can give people a healthy benefit for the heart and beyond is to make the switch to olive oil.

When someone has been imprisoned for 20 years, oftentimes corporations won’t hire him or her. Galen Scott Sampson, through his Baltimore restaurant’s apprenticeship program, is changing that mindset by building passionate, experienced culinarians who are difficult to refuse.

By Lynn Schwartz

Galen Scott Sampson, the chef-owner of The Dogwood Restaurant in Baltimore, is a chef with two callings. The first is a commitment to Sustainable American Cuisine. The second is to contribute to his Baltimore community. Sampson has accomplished both.

The restaurant has achieved accolades, locally and nationally, including being named one of the best sandwich shops in the nation by Bon Apétit in 2007, and touted as one of the Top Ten Kitchens in Baltimore by The Baltimore Sun. Sampson’s community service has received recognition, too. He was featured in 2008 as a CNN Hero for providing culinary training to individuals who, because of their past history, have little chance of employment. The restaurant slogan sums it up: “Eat Well. Do Good.”

A short, focused speech poses an opportunity for students to make an impression and explain themselves. It is also a way to build interest in what they are doing or want to do, as well as enlist support and sway opinion.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Because last month this column discussed networking, this month we will focus on elevator speeches—what they are, why they are important and how to deliver them for maximum impact. Since you probably know about elevator speeches and probably use them, this column might be something you want to distribute to students who do not know about or would benefit from being reminded about elevator speeches. Therefore, the bulk of this column is aimed at students.

In a continuation of last month’s focus on teaching nutrition within a short class period, Chef Weiner explains how to emphasize the remaining six of 10 unchanging basic facts.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

Last month I wrote about why culinary teachers find it challenging to teach about nutrition, and gave the first four topics to cover in a 50-minute classroom:

1. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn (or burn more than you consume).

2. To be healthy, you must consume a wide variety of foods.

3. Generally, the closer food is to its natural form, the healthier it is.

4. Yes, Virginia, you really do need to have some fat in your diet.

This month we finish our list of 10 things to teach about nutrition.

A combination high school, urban farm and environmental education center in Connecticut is leading the way as a model in healthy lifestyles for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

By Morgan Wotherspoon

For decades now, the idea of sustainable agriculture has been gaining momentum. Our country is looking for better ways to grow our food and eat healthy. Sustainable agriculture is a method of growing and raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, is more in tune with the environment, humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities. (Visit www.sustainabletable.org for more.)

Common Ground High School, Urban Farm and Environmental Education Center are taking this concept to the next level. This charter school in New Haven, Conn., is integrating sustainable farming, culinary arts and its school-lunch program. It’s a unique model for the future of high-school culinary-arts programs.

An e-learning module focusing on the versatility, nutrition and palate-pleasing power of California table grapes.

Courtesy of CIAprochef.com

With its mild, Mediterranean-type climate, California is paradise for grapes. Everyone knows that the Golden State grows world-class wine grapes, but table grapes excel there, too. In fact, California produces almost all of the United States’ commercially grown table grapes.

Chefs know they can count on grapes to add refreshment to a cheese plate, color to a fruit plate or a wholesome crunch to a salad. But if you think of grapes only as a garnish, you’re missing a lot of the fruit’s culinary potential. In the hands of professional culinarians with an innovative bent, fresh grapes can go in directions you may never have imagined. Carbonate a grape? Why not?