Superheroes can be found in hotel rooms? In the kitchen?
Text and photos by ANGELO G. GARCIA
A hero-inspired hotel room or food with hero motif? Yes, but they are not real superheroes with superhuman powers staying in the kitchen. These ‘super’ food and rooms are creations of people who can be called heroes in their own right – although they are just students.
They are the young cooks holding knives, spatulas, and wire whisks as their weapons while wearing the familiar white chef’s hat as their badge and aprons are their protective gear. They took on the challenge and conquered the ring that is called – the kitchen. Soon-to-be hotel managers with new concepts in room design, they were able to transform a dull, ordinary hotel room into a work of functional art while only armed with curtain rods, metal lamps and yards of fabric.
These young students aspiring to be chefs took on the challenge, inventing and innovating styles, decorating cakes and dressing up queen-sized beds. Earlier on, not all of them could decorate pastries or even small cupcakes and make his/her own bed.
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DLS-CSB's SHRIM students preparing
their original dishes at the kitchen lab. | | The De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management (SHRIM) students prove themselves heroic in their own right and turf at the Young Hoteliers Exposition (YHE) event held at the Angelo King International Center carrying the "Superheroes" theme.
The YHE is a week-long event held every term of the SHRIM of the DLS-CSB, which allow students to showcase and hone their talents through different competitions. The event focused on Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Travel and Tourism, the three main tracks of specialization of SHRIM’s B.S. HRIM program.
"Different events are held everyday that best display the excellence and professionalism in the hotel and restaurant industry," says YHE publications committee head Nastasha Alli.
YOUNG HOTELIERS
GOES HEROIC
Now on its 16th term, the event has expanded from a three-day celebration into a week long festivity of live cooking, room setup and tourism competitions. With their theme on the table, the students flew and punched their way to victory.
The week-long celebration comprised of different competitions especially fashioned for the three tracks of the college. Some of the events included the room setup and bathroom amenities competition, pasta live cookery, cake decorating contest, artistic bread competition, destination marketing competition and the likes.
According to YHE faculty chairman Gerry Ele II, the celebration has expanded since it started four years ago, from the simple food and beverage challenge with only four events back in 2001, it has grown into a full blown hotelier’s skills challenge.
"Part of our expansion is inviting students from other schools to join our competitions," Ele explains.
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SUPER ROOM. This Smallville inspired
hotel bedroom won first place at the
room setup and bathhroom amenities
competition. | | He also explained that the event was not compulsory for the students. Only ones those interested, regardless of their year level, may join, although they highly encourage their students to participate in the competitions.
The kitchen labs of the SHRIM was filled with aspiring cooks drew their newest ideas on food and food preparation under their sleeves, like gladiators in the hot stove battle arena.
One of the contests that initiated the event was the pasta live cookery. The on-the-spot culinary competition where students were asked to complete an original main course pasta dish, using local ingredients and innovative cooking methods.
The culinary competition that is considered as one of the main contest in the event is the market basket competition. An Iron Chef like culinary bout, which students were asked to prepare an appetizer, entrée and dessert under time constraint and limited food items given to them on the day of the competition. This contest tested the skills, creativity and resourcefulness of the young zealous cooks.
The young chefs that overcame the challenge who pleased the discriminating taste buds of the judges was group eight, composed of third year Culinary Arts students, namely, Jamelee Karen Tan, Joan Carla Liban, Ching Ye Keycee Leung and Elizabeth Punto. They cooked-up their winning three-course meal using only three main local ingredients – beef, rice and mangoes.
Another contest that took place in the first day of the event was the room setup and bathroom amenities competition. The students were asked to decorate a hotel room including the bathroom carrying the superhero theme. Of the eight groups that joined the contest, one group stood out and became the early favorite, with their Aeon Flux inspired room, it generated buzz from co-students.
Fourth year Culinary Arts student Aldrin Caiga explains that they aimed at a design that is realistic and can be actually executed in a real hotel room. Their Asian inspired room composed of native and natural materials, from bamboo poles to river rocks. Though they’re the early favorite, Aeon Flux’s power was no match to the man of steel, the "Smallville" inspired room won the votes of the judges.
The event was not all about food and hotel rooms, talented students showed their singing prowess in the YHE Singing Idol and YHE Band Idol contests proving that they can replace their flat chopping blades to a microphone in the right taste and tune.
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