EAST PROVIDENCE — A quartet of potential future chefs from the East Providence High School Career and Tech Center's Culinary program recently captured the 2023 Rhode Island High School Seafood Cook-Off, hosted by the Warwick Area Career & Technical Center and sponsored by the Department of Environmental Management through its "Sea Grant" program.

Katelyn Bolarinho, Teagan Abatiello, Aaliyah Cateano and Martim Moniz, under the guidance of Chef/Instructor Marie-Claire McKillip, took first place with their entree, "Lemon Steamed Summer Flounder with a Brussel."

According to McKillip, Summer Flounder was the featured ingredient for all teams to use this year. She added, "The East Providence students worked diligently to develop a menu item, then tested and revised their dish multiple times before deciding on their entry."

The dish, as prepared for the competition, yielded 120 portions, and included ingredients "Sprout and Apple Slaw, Sweet Potato Puree, Blistered Tomato and Aji Amarillo Sauce."

The cook-off culminated with a public tasting event in late April, where the audience members voted on their favorite dish.

The local students vied with their peers from the host Warwick program as well as Davies Career and Tech, the Westerly Career and Tech and the Woonsocket Area Career and Tech Center.

As the winning team will be treated to lunch and have their recipe featured at a Newport Restaurant Group restaurant as a special. NRG was another of the event sponsors.

Bolarinho, Abatiello, Cateano and McKillip were later invited to have lunch at renowned Providence seafood restaurant, "Hemenway's," where their item will soon be featured as a menu special. Moniz was out of town attending a wrestling meet at the time of the invite.

Additional sponsors of the cook-off included the Cooperative Extension Food Safety Education Program in the University of Rhode Island Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences and the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.