BALTIMORE — Visit Baltimore organized a culinary competition for two Baltimore City Schools, the competition is a part of Visit Baltimore’s national travel and tourism week and is the second year it has been put on.
Teams of students from Carver High School and Forest Park High School created their meals in the Hyatt Regency Hotel and competed head to head in a culinary battle that was judged by local chefs in Baltimore.
“To see 15, 16 year-old kids in the kitchen that are working this level of professionalism and showing the techniques that they did was just awesome, awesome to see. It’s really refreshing to see young kids as passionate about cooking as more than half of the staff that I've turned over since I've been here," said James Barrett, Hyatt Executive Chef.
The chefs judged each team based on a list of qualifications and decided the winning team was Carver High School by a four point difference.
“I love Visit Baltimore for doing this because we need to be able to take the talent that we have here and keep it in the city," said Chef Tonya Thomas.
Even though this was a competition, chef David Thomas said students from both schools have a bright future in the culinary industry.
“I think we saw a couple of students who we could immediately put in our roster and help them elevate their skill set and work well for the business so, I think the other shifts are thinking the same thing," said David.
In addition to the culinary competition, the students also got to learn table manners and etiquette at the awards banquet.
Carver High School has now won the competition two years in a row.
