David Starr Jordan Middle School partnered with California Pizza Kitchen to host the first annual “California Pizza Kitchen Culinary Challenge” last Friday.
Chef and General Manager, Kong Chang, Chef and AGM Jane Korpob, Regional Partner, Bill Snodgrass, and Senior Regional Manager Carol Flynn have been working with Jordan this year. CPK participated in Jordan’s Career Fair, provided demo lessons in the Culinary Arts class. On Friday CPK created a “Top Chef” style competition for students and staff.
The CPKulinary Challenge was an incredible culminating event for the school. Seven staff members along with three students per team designed an original pasta and salad for a team of judges. The guest Judges included Burbank’s new Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy, Chef Neil DeVries from Lakeside Country Club and Chef Kong and Chef Jane from CPK.
The school created a live broadcast so family and friends could watch the teams dazzle everyone with their culinary expertise, and then each team presented their original dish to the panel of judges.
Chef Silverstein (Teacher Mr. Phil Silverstein) took first place and CPK awarded each winner with $100 gift card and a trophy.
Mrs. Shari Burkhart (Food Services Supervisor) took 2nd place and were awarded a $50 gift card, and Mr. Kenny Knoop (PE Coach) took 3rd place and received a $25 gift card.
CPK gave each team a $40 budget and list of required ingredients from the school garden to incorporate into their dish.
Culinary Arts teacher Doreen Wydra said, “This is a dream come true! I’ve always wanted to host an event like this at Jordan, and thanks to CPK, our students, parents, community and staff experienced an incredible evening of fun, teamwork, and culinary creativity!”
