Eight anxious Elgin High School culinary students stood in front of a panel of judges Friday at Chicago Street Pour House, all eager to find out who among them won a burger cook-off that would result in their creation being put on the restaurant’s menu.
The competition featured seniors from the school’s Advanced Restaurant Management class, the finalists winnowed down during weeks of testings and tastings by teachers and students in the program.
Two individual students and three teams of two took turns in the Elgin restaurant’s kitchen, using ingredients found on the menu to create what they hoped would be the winning burger.
Their burger fates were in the hands of four judges: Elgin Mayor David Kaptain, the restaurant’s owner Scott Ward, EHS senior dean Tahirah Khan and Daily Herald multimedia journalist Rick West, also known as me.
And as luck would have it, our decision was unanimous.
The “Sweetness” burger, named in honor of Walter Payton, features candied bacon, caramelized onions and jalepenos, and American cheese on a toasted pretzel roll. It will appear on the Chicago Street Pour House menu starting in January after it was named the winner of a cook-off among Elgin High School culinary students Friday.
Rick West/[email protected]
Geraldo Depaz and Mario Perez, took home the top spot with their “Sweetness” burger, a combination featuring candied bacon, caramelized onions, jalapenos and American cheese on a toasted pretzel roll.
Each took home a cash prize and they’ll see their burger on the restaurant’s menu starting in January.
Depaz and Perez said it was a team effort, with one having the idea for the candied bacon and the other for the caramelized onions and jalapenos. Both are big football fans and named their burger in honor of Walter Payton.
They were confident going in that they had a winning combination.
Depaz said that while other students were experimenting in the days leading up to the finals, they were honing their concept.
“We’ve been doing the same constant burger, just trying to perfect it,” Depaz added.
Geraldo Depaz, left, and Mario Perez, celebrate after being announced as the winners of a burger cook-off among Elgin High School culinary students at Chicago Street Pour House in Elgin Friday. The winners got a small cash prize and their burger will be featured on the restaurant’s menu starting in January.
Rick West/[email protected]
Both said they’re excited to come in with their families and order their burger.
“We should get it for free though,” Perez said with a laugh.
Culinary teacher Liz Schimmel said the event was all she hoped it would be for the students.
“I was so proud of them,” she said. “They really got creative with the menu.”
The cook-off was organized by EHS culinary teacher Ammee Schubert, who teaches the advanced restaurant management class, and Nate Pauley, director of operations for Four Napkins Hospitality Group, which owns the restaurant.
Pauley said they’d done something similar at their Schaumburg restaurant, The Local Kitchen + Tap.
“We try to do as much as we can for the community,” he said.
Melody Leyes and other Elgin High School culinary students put together their entries for a burger cook-off at Chicago Street Pour House in Elgin Friday.
Rick West/[email protected]
Elgin High has over 600 kids in their culinary classes. The 41 seniors who had been in the program all four years went to lunch at the restaurant Friday to watch their classmates compete.
Schubert said she hopes this competition will be the first of many opportunities to get her students out in the community. About half her seniors have shown serious interest in a culinary career.
Ernesto Palomar presents his entry for a burger cook-off among Elgin High School culinary students at Chicago Street Pour House in Elgin Friday.
Rick West/[email protected]
Even the ones that don’t choose it as a career learn an important life skill, one that Schubert tells them they’ll use for the rest of their lives.
“The exciting part for me is when I have a kid as a senior, that as a sophomore was afraid to touch the food and now here they are looking at me and saying ‘I can cook that,’ and they go home and make it for their whole family,” she said. “I love it. I get emotional because you’re affecting their life.”