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Orange County high school wins national restaurant championship

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Battling against 400 students from 48 states, four students from the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana won top honors at this year’s National ProStart Invitational, the country’s largest high school culinary and restaurant management contest.

Emily Leo, Max Madsen, Tira Smith and Cynthia Zhou of Orange County School of the Arts from Santa Ana took first place in the restaurant management category. The group will split a share of scholarships totaling $200,000. Winners were announced on April 28 at a ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Their winning concept, christened Teddy’s, a fast-casual sports eatery concept aimed at patrons who want to enjoy breakfast while catching their favorite games, beat other fantasy restaurants from student teams at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Connecticut, and Elk River High School in Elk River, Minnesota, which placed second and third, respectively.

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In order to win, the teens had to created a comprehensive business plan that included budget, restaurant design and marketing plans. Their proposal was then pitched to industry professionals.

Caesar Rodney High School from Camden, Delaware, won first place in the culinary category. The teens, who had to create and plate dishes for a panel of judges, won for a menu of hand-rolled pork dumplings, pepper-crusted steak Diane and a lemon meringue tart, all of which they had to prepare without the use of electricity or running water, and using only two butane burners.

The annual competition is billed as one part “Chopped” and one part “Shark Tank.” This isn’t the first time an Orange County school nabbed gold in the annual competition; Newport Beach Harbor High swept both restaurant management and culinary categories in 2011.

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