Food service education can mean better service in restaurants

It’s no secret that new hires for restaurant work often prove they are not as skilled as they said they were. Applicants for upper-level positions that require certifiable experience, such as executive chef or general manager, are fewer and further between. And nowhere is this trend more obvious than in seasonal resort communities.

The Delaware Restaurant Association stepped up to the plate with the well-regarded ProStart program, a nationwide, two-year, industry-written curriculum for high school students. This elective program introduces them to the culinary and management skills needed for a career in the restaurant and food service industry. A significant number of these students continue into nationally accredited culinary schools. Some of our local students have returned to Sussex County to become part of the business of eating here at the beach. But tuition into some culinary schools can exceed $35,000, so perhaps a little help is needed!

To that end, Touch of Italy restaurants and RehobothFoodie.com teamed up several years ago to form the nonprofit Culinary Scholarship Fund. It offers $5,000 of tuition assistance available to students who successfully complete the classroom/practical levels of DRA’s ProStart program, or who excel in the well-regarded culinary programs at Wor-Wic Community College and Delaware Technical Community College. Some applicants have been awarded scholarships after demonstrating exceptional skills and work ethic on the job.

Last week, the RehobothFoodie.com/Touch of Italy Culinary Scholarship Fund kicked off its fourth annual Trip to Italy benefit to help budding food service candidates advance their education. The annual game of chance is simple: a patron buys one (or more) $100 chances to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Italian Riviera and Lake Como. The prize includes limo transportation to and from the Delaware Cape Region to the airport and $1,000 in cash for the winner and companion to spend as they please! Past trips featured all-inclusive vacations in Rome, Tuscany and Venice.

Upon arriving in Italy, the winner and a companion will be whisked from the Milan Malpensa Airport to the Santa Margherita Ligure Hotel. The following two days will be filled with Italian experiences built around the Hotel Metropole and Santa Margherita. Private tours will include the quaint villages of the Santa Margherita Ligure, Portofino and San Fruttuoso. One of the highlights will be a skip-the-line look the stunning trompe l’oeil painted palaces that trick the eye into believing what you’re seeing is real.

The week includes a boat ride to San Fruttuoso to admire the medieval abbey built directly on the pebble beach and a day-long visit to the hop plantations on the Italian Riviera. Around midweek, the winner and companion will don aprons and master the art of traditional Ligurian cooking, using recipes from the Corzetti handmade pasta to pesto and local desserts. The cooking class members will then pour selected local wines and beers to indulge in their own creations before a leisurely return to Portofino.

A private car will transfer our winners to the famous Hotel Barchetta Excelsoir in Como in the Piazza Cavour (Como's main square) directly across the lake and close to the Duomo and historic center. The area is loaded with cafes, restaurants and local boat/ferry services.

Toward the end of the week is a free day to spend some of that $1,000 cash that’s part of the prize! Our winners will mingle with the locals, and visit tiny shops and tucked-away restaurants and cafes; perhaps they’ll even buy a few treasures to bring home.

Upon returning to the United States, yet another limo will transport the lucky winner from the airport right back to their front door here in Delaware’s Cape Region. The retail value of this trip is around $8,000, and only 400 tickets will be sold. The winner will be drawn at the Touch of Italy Rehoboth annual Thanksgiving Eve party, Wednesday, Nov. 23, and you do not need to be present to win.

Generous sponsors include Cape Gazette, Resort Broadcasting (WGMD 92.7FM and WUSX 98.5FM), Ocean 98 Radio and Radio Rehoboth 99.1FM. The actual drawing will be broadcast live on TV Delmarva.

Get your chances now (remember – sales are limited to 400) simply by going to ItalianRaffle.com. An official ticket will be mailed to each buyer, and any one of them could be the winning number. The trip will be amazing, but the real winners will be our fledgling food service students who dream of successful careers – many of which will be right here on Delmarva.

Bob Yesbek writes and talks beach eats nonstop. He can be reached at byesbek@capegazette.com.