Gallatin College Montana State University will host the ProStart culinary and management competitions for high school students from across the state during the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America State Leadership Conference on March 14 and 15.

The 2024 Montana ProStart Invitational, hosted by Gallatin College MSU’s Culinary Arts Program, will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., March 14 in Hannon Hall on the MSU campus, with an awards ceremony that evening in the SUB Ballrooms. Students from eight high schools will participate in the competition. The event is open to public viewing.

ProStart is part of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which works to attract future workers in the restaurant industry. The ProStart competition is one way the organization seeks to accomplish this, according to the foundation’s website.

“They spend hours and hours in their school kitchens practicing,” said Mike Dean, program director of Culinary Arts at Gallatin College MSU. “There are specific menu requirements, and the menu specifics change every year. The teams are required to prepare an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Two plates of each, one for display and one for consumption.”

ProStart Invitational events are divided into two portions, culinary and management. During the culinary competition, teams of two to five students are scored on a three-course meal of their own creation and a skills demonstration. For the management competition, judges acting as potential investors evaluate student-created restaurant concepts.

The ProStart judges, all industry leaders from Montana businesses, will determine scores based on presentation, taste and the ability to work as a team.

“I’ve worked with ProStart for 15 years. We’re proud to be the host facility,” Dean said.

The winning teams in the culinary and management events will be eligible to participate in the National ProStart Invitational in Baltimore on April 26-28.

Contact: Anna Reardon, 406-994-7752 or anna.reardon@montana.edu