It was a familiar sight at the recent 2014 National ProStart Invitational Awards Dinner in Austin as the teams from two Texas high schools waited to hear the results after demonstrating their mastery of restaurant-leadership skills in a fast-paced culinary and restaurant-management competition.

For the second year in a row, the culinary team from The Academy of Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management at Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, Texas, and the management team from Rockwall High School in Rockwall, Texas, won their competitions at the Texas ProStart Invitational and represented the Lone Star State at nationals, where ProStart champions from 46 states, territories and Department of Defense bases competed for their share of a total of $3.75 million in scholarships.

The Rockwall team (pictured) repeated its state success and took first place in the management competition at the 2014 National ProStart Invitational!

Every dish we cook, every meal we eat represents the convergence of head, heart and hands. reThink Food: Mind, Behavior, and Culture, is a new conference series co-presented by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and the MIT Media Lab to explore how we experience food—from the workings of our sensory systems, to the impact of new technologies on our food systems, to the habits and rituals that bind us.

In its first year, reThink Food will bring an audience of 300 from the science, marketing, technology, food and media industries to the CIA’s Napa Valley campus, November 7-9, 2014. The three-day program will include research presentations, panel discussions, tastings, culinary demonstrations and a variety of sensory experiences led by world-class experts who include behavioral economists Dan Ariely (Duke University) and Michael Norton (Harvard University), scientists Stuart Firestein (Columbia University) and Howard Shapiro (Mars, Inc.), chefs Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood), Daniel Patterson (The Daniel Patterson Restaurant Group), and Maxime Bilet (Art for Food), Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Moss (The New York Times), inventor and author Nathan Myhrvold (Intellectual Ventures), along with CIA President Tim Ryan, CMC, and MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito.

Kendall College is proud to announce the release of its first culinary publication, Sharing Our Global Passion: Recipes from 22 World Class Chefs ($25), a compilation of recipes that reflect the backgrounds, professional training and world experiences of faculty in the School of Culinary Arts. Published by the preeminent culinary-arts educational experience in the Midwest, this book celebrates the diversity of global cuisine in both classic style and modern interpretation.

“Chicago is known for leadership and innovation in hospitality; the culinary and baking and pastry faculty at Kendall College are no exception,” says President Emily Williams Knight. “Not only are they educators, they are first and foremost skilled practitioners who have worked around the world. In short, Kendall’s faculty truly offer students rich, global perspectives.”

The Baker College of Port Huron student-operated, fine-dining restaurant and bar at the Culinary Institute of Michigan (CIM) has opened its doors, serving up Michigan products and beautiful local views. The CIM Port Huron is located at 2000 St. Clair Street, Port Huron.

Named COURSES, the teaching restaurant opened to the public on April 23 offering lunch three days a week—Wednesdays through Fridays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the last reservation for seating at 1:15 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (810)357-0875.

“Our menus will feature Michigan products and locally grown foods, when available,” said Paula Recinella, COURSES manager and CIM instructor of culinary arts and food and beverage management. “We know our patrons will love discovering quality Michigan products, and this is a great way we can contribute to a healthy, local economy as our Baker College students gain valuable real-world experience.”

A group of students from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) campus in Hyde Park, N.Y., is spending the first semester of senior year at the college’s campus in San Antonio, Texas, focusing on the ingredients, techniques and cultural traditions of Latin American cuisines. It is part of the CIA’s Latin Cuisines Concentration, which launched May 5—Cinco de Mayo.

The students, pursuing bachelor’s degrees in culinary-arts management from the CIA, will study the foods of Mexico and other Latin American cuisines that are ripe for broader exposure in the United States, including those of Brazil, Peru, Central America and the Caribbean. They will explore the nuances of flavor development and culinary expression of these cuisines, while learning from expert faculty and visiting instructors, such as award-winning chef Rick Bayless, all under the direction of the CIA’s Chef Sergio Remolina.

Students also will be immersed in the history and cultures of these nations and regions. For instance, they will learn that Cinco de Mayo is not the “Mexican Fourth of July,” but rather the commemoration of an 1862 military victory. According to Remolina, only in recent years has it turned into a day of celebration in the United States.

The National Honey Board (NHB) and Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR) have collaborated to establish the “Laurey Masterton Golden Amulet Award,” recognizing women entrepreneurs in the foodservice industry. Launching in 2015, the WCR award is a tribute chef and beekeeper Laurey Masterton, beloved WCR member and NHB spokeswoman, who lost a courageous battle with cancer in February.

A trailblazer and entrepreneur, Masterton is widely recognized for helping to establish downtown Asheville, N.C., as a vibrant farm-to-table food scene, starting with the launch of her eponymous “Laurey’s” Café-Catering-Comfort in 1987.