An innovative idea netted the Milford High School ProStart management team a second-place finish at the Nebraska State ProStart competition.
The team of juniors Logan Hershberger and Skylar Price and senior Cheyenne Prentice presented their concept for The Wonder, a chic restaurant in a college town that focuses on molecular gastronomy-centered cuisine, during a virtual competition on April 8.
ProStart features two divisions – culinary and management. The role of the management team is to design a restaurant from top to bottom, including a floor plan, menu and marketing, plus other features associated with an up-and-coming restaurant.
To execute their out-of-the-box plan took research and development and a lot of Agar-Agar.
“We even ordered our own little gastronomy kit to experiment with some ideas,” Prentice said.
Coach Mallory Gregory said when she heard the concept, she knew the students were on the right path, as creativity is half the battle when forming a plan in ProStart.
“When they came up with their idea back in September, I knew I was working with some really innovative and talented students.,” she said. “Creativity is hard to come by, and for them to see the bigger picture of food and want others to have this experience, I knew it was going to be fun and we were all going to experiment and learn together.”
One of those ideas was a mango noodle dessert composed of pureed mango, juice and the gelatin agent Agar-Agar, piped through a tube around a mound of ice cream. Other menu items featured sauce pearls, foams and other unique touches that emphasized The Wonder's focus on molecular gastronomy.
Prentice said that the concept of the menu was to give diners not only a world-class dining experience, but a show right on their plates.
“Basically we formed the restaurant around the menu because the food piece is the heart of the restaurant,” she said.
“People come to a restaurant for the atmosphere and the food,” added Hershberger.
Aside from the menu, the team also had to come up with marketing items, events and promotions that would further entice patrons to enter the restaurant. One perk, they said, was to have chefs at the restaurant provide hands-on demonstrations a few times per year to show diners how their food is made.
“The chef would describe all the food science to them and then they could go eat their meal,” Prentice said.
A focus the team wanted to incorporate into the restaurant and promotions was the art students at the college in their hypothetical town. The concept called for the restaurant to display the students' art on its walls as décor with the option for diners purchase the art through auctions.
“I was personally pretty proud of incorporating art from the local college,” Hershberger said. “Our idea was to auction off the art pieces, giving us a sense of pride and getting the names of local artists out, as well as bringing revenue in for the college students.”
The concept for the restaurant had to be hyper-detailed to the point where interior design was also involved. As a contrast to The Wonder's out-of-the-ordinary cuisine, the team elected for a modern and modest interior of marble, dark wood, black metal and light grey walls.
“It was a sleek, modern design,” Prentice said.
The final product came together in time for a preliminary round earlier this year, and the feedback showed that the team had a unique, but more importantly, winning concept.
“What they do is they give notes on our concept and one of them said it was the best concept in the show,” Prentice said.
At that point, the team knew they had a legitimate chance to win the state competition and advance to the national level.
“We had a concept that was way out there,” Hershberger said.
Competition day looked a little different this year, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, teams would take the stage at one of the food labs at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, where a panel of judges would grill the students on their concept and see the plans first-hand. This year, however, students presented virtually, from the comfort of their own classroom.
Each student was required to speak on one of five portions of their plan individually and submit its entire plan digitally.
The new model of the contest took an adjustment, but ultimately, students said the pressure was lessened by being separate from the judges.
“It was also nice being able to look at (instructor) Mrs. (Mallory) Gregory and see her,” Price said.
Prentice said one of the most nerve-wracking aspects of the digital method was that results were announced a day after the presentation whereas normally, the contest and awards would be held on the same day. This meant that after their presentation, the students had to wait for an entire day to find out the final verdict.
“I was ready to be done with the competition, but there was also another sense of nerves of how well did we do or if we did enough,” Hershberger said.
The day after the contest, April 9, the students returned the classroom, logged into the competition online and waited for their placement. Ultimately, the team finished second behind The Career Academy of Lincoln.
“We were a little disappointed but it was also a sense of relief that we did that well,” Hershberger said.
While the result was a disappointment, it was also a spot to jump off of for returning members Price and Hershberger. Hershberger said he already has plans for next year's concept and with a mix of experience and new yet eager members, the sights are now set on first place.
“Next year, we're bringing in new students, so we'll have more people and more ideas,” he said. “Having more ideas helps build a concept quicker.”
