On Monday May 16^th, several student leaders presented a White Out Waste event, encouraging guests to bring their own food and dress in all white. Student Leader Emily Stricko was generous enough to share her experience contributing with the event. She notes, €œOur inspiration was from a real event, called the Dîner en Blanc; it’s  the French tradition of a large, outdoor picnic with guests dressed only in white, upheld in dozens of cities today €. Emily explains that sustainability was focused upon when brainstorming for ideas. WHC emphasizes sustainability as an ideal to constantly strive towards; a fun, fashionable, creative and delicious event €œwith the underlying understanding to recycle and leave no trash behind € fits in well with the college €™s values.

As with any WHC event, the White Out Waste dinner required much collaboration and attention to detail. Emily explains, €œwe needed to convey the elegance and level of effort requested by the planning committee to influence potential sign-ups in understanding our message €.  Guests wore all white and dined with eco-minded service ware. Guests brought their own food and sense of style to the picnic-esque event, a sparkling cider toast kicked off the evening of sustainability-focused conversation. Looking to the future is important for the sustainably-minded Student Leaders and the entire WHC Community. Minimizing waste was the central goal of this event and the Student Leaders wish to continue this focus in day to day life at WHC and into the future with more events and collaboration. Emily looks forward to collaborating the future student leaders on similar events, €œhappily, the initiatives drawn up by the existing generation of Student Leaders are meant to give structure and inspiration to our peers and even faculty. From eliminating paper printouts and installing multiple blue recycling bins throughout campus, we ask that everybody remember being mindful of waste, electricity, and making €˜green €™ choices! €.  The White Out Waste event highlighted that eliminating waste and focusing on other sustainable practice require looking into the past and embracing new methodologies as we move forward as individuals and as a college community towards the constant goal of thinking and acting €˜green €™. Check out all everything else Student Leaders are up to here!

On Saturday, May 7, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College hosted yet another of its annual scholarship events for high school students, this time the 2016 Culinary Competition. We were excited to have 20 students hailing from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware come to our Philadelphia campus to show us their cooking chops for the chance to earn partial tuition!

The Culinary Competition challenged students to compose a chicken dish with an array of ingredients that they didn €™t know about until they arrived in our kitchens. This surprise element to the competition forced the students to think on their feet and really brought out the creative cooking ideas we love to see! In fact, the judges were so impressed that they awarded top prizes in the high school and vo-tech divisions to seven students instead of the usual six, with two students tying for third in the vo-tech division! All of the students walked away with a $500 scholarship to attend Walnut Hill College, so the day was an overall success for everyone who participated.

We’d like to thank all of the students for competing as well as their instructors and parents for  supporting them during contest prep. Of course, a huge thank you goes to our esteemed chef judges–some of whom are alumni–Marcie Turney, Evan Turney, Rocco Cima, and Todd Braley!

Please enjoy the photo album from our 2016 Culinary Competition.

On Saturday, April 30, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College hosted its 20th annual Chocolate Competition for high school juniors and seniors. This event showcased the talents of rising pastry professionals and gave the young competitors the chance to earn scholarships to attend the college in the program of their choice. Over 20 students from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland descended onto our Philadelphia campus to vie for the top prize in their respective division: high school or vocational-technical school.

For the competition, all of the students had to bake a chocolate cake prior to arriving on campus. What set each cake apart was the extraordinary design work that each student put into his or her confection on competition day! Whether they chose to make a simple but elegant cake or go all out with a multi-colored, multi-layered masterpiece, the students were encouraged to be creative. Judging the students €™ cakes were Kathy Gold, Executive Chef and Owner of In the Kitchen Cooking School, Nancy Miller, Executive Chef at Villanova University €™s Donahue Court, and Jill McClennan, Food Technologist at Campbell Soup Company.

All of the competitors went home with a $500 scholarship to attend our school, while the top three winners in both divisions also won scholarships in the amount of $6000, $3000, and $1800. Congratulations to all of the students who competed!

View the photo album from our  2016 Chocolate Competition.