Dining on success at the TAFE team challenge

26 October 2010

Hospitality students were given the opportunity to work as an industry-ready team at the TAFE Team Challenge earlier in October at George's Restaurant at NMIT.

The team of five, included a front-of-house team consisting of Taylor Nicolson and Zoe Agyeman, both students of the VETis Certificate II in Hospitality Essendon Keilor College.

The back-of-house three was made up of Kangan Institute international student Yogesh Bute, KBT Cafe apprentice Lisa Cheang, and Lachlan Diamond, an apprentice at the Tin Roof Café Niddrie.

The team was charged with creating their own menu and, with more than a hint of "Iron Chef", the entrée and main course both had to use specific ingredients: a fresh fillet of salmon (sponsored by Huon Aquaculture Group) for starters, and chicken (donated by Rose's Poultry) for mains.

Dessert was also to be served, however it had no restrictions, allowing for students to create and serve whatever finishing dish they felt appropriate, and each course had to be correctly matched and served with wine, beer or fortified wine.

The competing TAFE Team Challenge squads had to showcase all aspects of a proficient hospitality environment, with teams judged not just on food quality, but also on the professionalism of the service and delivery.

Despite the pressure in the restaurant building up throughout the night from the hot competition, the back-of-house team prevailed, and stormed through with a victory.

A special thankyou to the VET students from Essendon Keilor College for stepping in at the last minute due to unforseen circumstances related to our original service team. Without the enthusiastic involvement of Zoe, Taylor and staff of Essendon Keilor College, our team would have been forced to withdraw from the competition.

Additionally, Warren Mendoza (FOH) and Dennis Tran (BOH) also deserve thanks for training the Kangan team, developing their knowledge, and honing their hospitality skills.

Great work team!