Masterchef Competition Raises $3K for West Orange Education Fund

A Masterchef Competition saw spectacular displays of cooking and community participation, and $3,000 was raised for the West Orange Education Fund and the West Orange High School Principal’s Scholarship.

Members of the community, including parents, teachers, township officials and administrators formed teams and competed in head-to-head one-hour cook-offs, featuring appetizers, entrees and desserts, according to West Orange School District.

“Thanks to our celebrity guest chefs such the Mayor, Fire Chief, Town Administrator, WOHS faculty administrators, Sodexo Food Service expert chefs and their team of sous chefs,” West Orange High School Principal Hayden Moore said.

Each of the five teams included a Sodexo chef, four adults and one current student. According to the West Orange School Distric, the teams were as follows:

• Team Frio (Chef Mike Frio)—student Iffy Odeoemena, Lori Hascsak, Marci Echeverria, Robin Miller, and Jodi Lynn Rousseau.
• Team Giannopoulos (Chef Leo Giannopoulos)—student Jewel Burnett, Lou Quagliato, Marie Demaio, Nancy Mullin, and Zach Coppola.
• Team Efford-Singleton (Chef Marcus Efford-Singleton)—student Kailyn Scott, Annette Towson, Michelle Martino, Leslie Chung, and Wanda Maragni.
• Team Schmitt—student Jahmani Dean-Bailey, Lee Klein, township Business Administrator Jack Sayers, West Orange Fire Chief Pete Smeraldo, and Mayor Rob Parisi.
• Team Salerno—student Jessica Kaiser, Paul Casolaro, Lew Kelly, Anna D’Elia, and Councilman Jerry Guarino.

Team Salerno snagged the top honors for Best Entrée and Best Overall, after cooking up deep fried potato chip-crusted flounder stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach atop couscous and grilled asparagus.

Other awards included best appetizer, won by Chef Marcus Efford-Singleton; best dessert, won by Chef Leo Giannopoulos; most team spirit, won by Chef Mike Frio; and best plated, won by Chef Mike Schmitt.

For more information regardin West Orange Education Fund scholarships, contact Linda Rizzolo at lrizzolo@woboe.org.

(Photos courtesy of West Orange School District)