Takoma Park Middle School aims for a sixth victory as students prepare to compete in the Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge this weekend.
The annual event on Saturday will showcase eight local middle and high school teams competing to create the best dishes for breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
Each culinary team will showcase its dishes in a live-streamed event that is closed to the public, where a panel of judges will taste the dishes and ask questions.
The event will open to the public at 9:30 a.m. and feature a tasting of student dishes and exhibits from noon to 1:05 p.m. Attendees will have the chance to vote for their favorite breakfast and smart snack items for the Community Choice Award.
A celebrity chef cooking demonstration will occur from 11:15 to 11:55 a.m., showcasing award-winning chef and RASA co-founder Rahul Vinod alongside Chef K. N. Vinod. The demonstration will be moderated by Chef Kevin Tien of Moon Rabbit, who is also the Event Chair.
The Culinary Challenge competition is fierce, with each team dedicating weeks to prepare for this event. Students must utilize approved ingredients and adhere to strict U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional and cost guidelines when crafting recipes and preparing dishes for judging.
The event supports the McLean-based Real Food for Kids nonprofit, which was established over 15 years ago by concerned Fairfax County parents advocating for better health and nutrition in school meals.
“The Culinary Challenge is the only event in the D.C. region that gives students a platform to influence and change what is served in their school cafeterias,” said Real Food for Kids executive director Bonnie Moore. “We strive to improve food and nutrition security to school children by increasing access to healthy food in schools. The Culinary Challenge helps us shine a light on this need, with students showing us how it can be done.”
This year’s panel of judges includes Masoka Morishita, Executive Chef at Perry’s; Hollis Wells Silverman, Founder of the Eastern Point Collective; Rock Harper, Restaurateur of Queen Mother’s Kitchen; Forrest Gonia, Chef de Partie at Moon Rabbit; Samantha Reilly, Director of Contract Meals at D.C. Central Kitchen; Oliver Lau, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, D.C.; Brian MacNair, CEO of Kitchen of Purpose; and Bee Thorp, Farm to School Specialist at the Virginia Department of Education.
Takoma Park Middle School has achieved remarkable success in the Real Food For Kids Culinary Challenge, winning the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024 competitions. Their 2024 winning dishes — Lentil Vegetable Soup, Grilled Paneer Cheese with Mango Chutney, and Masala Fries — have been featured in school cafeterias throughout the region over the past year.
In addition to Takoma Park Middle School, Shady Grove Middle School in Gaithersburg will participate in this year’s Culinary Challenge, along with teams from Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties in Virginia.
“With the Culinary Challenge, students have been able to add healthier and more appealing options to some of the school menus in the area. The students’ use of spices and other ingredients have been extremely impressive,” said Ype Von Hengst, executive chef and co-founder of Silver Diner, who serves as a student mentor for the teams competing.
Von Hengst is available throughout the competition and pre-competition when the teams are finalizing their recipes, and he has helped make recommendations for recipe tweaks.
“The sophistication of the recipes has also been impressive,” he added.
The Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge will be held on Saturday, March 8, at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria. Admission is free, but tickets are required at realfoodforkids.org.
Photos: Deb Lindsey / Real Food for Kids